The Sun.
London, England, 1832-05-02 00:00:00

►ernriined freemen againq 50,000,900 of invad.
ingl`blaves. The decree of fate has gone forth,
—Poland has been resubjugated, and the free
nations of Europe, who stood like wondering
spectators of its brilliant fire-works, have seen
the grand exhibition end in darkness, and its
half-consumed debris fall almost neglected on
neighbouring states. But the immense import-
ance of the issue has only become the more ap-
parent since the battle was lost to the Poles, and

since the Russians began to make the full use
of their triumph. More publications have ac-
cordirfz appeared on this subject since the end of

the war, and the celebrated ukase of the Em-
peror, incorporating Poland with Russia, than
could have been expected during a period in
which our own affairs are sufficient to engross
all our attention. One of these publications,
entitled Remarks on the Conduct and probable
Designs (21' Russia, now lies before us, and we
may refer to the last number of the Edinburgh
Review for an elaborate article on the same
subject. Had the Reform question not
stood in the way of our external sympa-
thies, it is more than probable that the
oppressions of Poland and the flagrant viola-
tions of faith and justice by Russia would have
called forth other appeals, calculated to rouse the
whole nation, and sufficient perhaps to atone for
the disgraceful supineness with which the free
states of Europe permitted the first partition of
the most ancient and renowned kingdom of the
north. The pamphlet to which we have alluded,
written without any affectation of novelty or
pretension to ingenuity, exhibits in the course of
a few pages the chief features of the Polish
question. It cannot be doubted that by the
treaty of Vienna the Duchy of Warsaw, taken
from the King of Saxony, was transferred to the
Emperor Alexander on the express condition of
erecting it into a separate state under the same
crown as Russia. It can as little be doubted or
denied that his Imperial Majesty immediately,
or in the course of a few mouths, fulfilled partly
his engagement, by declaring it a separate king-
dom, and gave it a free Constitution, which was
' sworn to byhiniself, and was to be sworn toby his
successors. This charter, which every freeman
of Europe almost knows by heart, guaranteed to
Poland its own Legislature, its own army, its
own laws, its own colours, its own treasures, its
own magistrates, its own municipal and elective
franchises, its separate government, its perfect
independence of the Russian administration, and
in short its entire nationality, with free national
institutions under the Emperor of Russia, who was
called in Poland by the title of King, and obliged to
be crowned at Warsaw as well as Moscow. To
those who are the least conversant with the recent
history of Poland, it is needless to say that all
the rights and privileges thus guranteed by the
Constitutional Charter were flagrantly and
shamelessly violated. The Imperial savage—
sent us Commander-in-Chief to Poland during
the life-time of his brother Alexander, and kept
in Poland after his brother's death because un-
worthy to reign in Russia—treated the Poles
as he would have done the most barbarous tribe
in his brother's dominions. In such circum-
stances their continued submission would have
been baseness, and their resistance was a virtue.
They rose on the 29th of November, 1830;
overpoivered the Russian regiments in garrison
at Warsaw, chased the Grand Duke Constan-

tine out of the kingdom, and declared their de-
termination to obtain a renewal of their Charter
from their Sovereign, or to shake off altogether
his yoke. No terms but those of unconditional
submission would be listened to by the auto-
crat, and accordingly both parties prepared for
the unequal conflict. During the short war
which ensued, the Poles addressed themselves
to all the free Governments and all the gene-
rous hearts of Europe. They every where met
with sympathy in their hardships—admiration
for their courage and prayers for their success,
but with no active assistance or support. The
Governments of France and England strongly
interceded in their favour—though they refused
to join in a war for their protection—and
obtained from the Court of Russia, during
the whole progress of the contest, the most
solemn assurances, that however it might end,
the faith of treaties would be maintained, and

the nationality of Poland respected. Thus stood
the Polish question at the fall of Warsaw on the
Sth of September last. The Emperor's brother,

the Grana Duke Michael, and the Commander-
in-Chief of the Russian forces, offered, imme-
diately before that event, to sign a capitulation
which included not only an amnesty for all the
inhabitants of the kiegdom of Poland, but forthe
insurgents in the Polish provinces incorporated
with Russia, who had joined the Poles in their
revolt. And the Emperor of Russia himself
declared to the French Ambassador at St. Peters-
burgh, that whatever should be the issue of the
contest, he would maintain the former privileges
and rights of Poland. The late ukase, therefore,
for annihilating the kingdom of Poland, for in-
corporating its provinces with the Russian em-
pire, and for changing entirely the conditions on
which it was transferred to the Russian Crown,
is not only a direct violation of old treaties, but
a breach of recent engagements,—not only an
example of perfidy, but a proof of insult. If
the Czar, relying upon a numerous army of dis-
cipline barbarians, is thus allowed to trample with
impunity upon promises and conventions when
they oppose his ambition,—if he can declare one
thing to a foreign ambassador, and write in an
opposite sense to the commander of his forces,
—what security have the southern Powers of
Europe for one half-year's tranquillity ? Without
expressing any opinion of our own on the course
of policy which ought to be pursued by this
country and France in our present extraordinary
relations to Russia, we shall content ourselves
with a quotation from the pamphlet before us on
the dangers of Russian ambition, if her late insults
and encroachments are not resented or repelled :

" But will France and England—will Austria, Sweden,
and Prussia,--subtnit to to gross an insult? They must
themselves give up all pretensions to honour and good
faith, if they do not insist upon the strict observance of
ratified engagements; and
by theirdma)
may be
tat.accusedjtaegevueiensceonfeepatrhteiy-
cipating in the crime, it
encourge the robber, thougl, they do not share in his
plunder.
" In the French King's speech, 1830, be declared that
the nationality of Poland should not be violated,—a senti-
ment re-echoed by the Chamber of Deputies, and since
confirmed by i%J. Perier. If France, forgetting the de-
clared opposition of Russia to her recent changes, now
meanly retracts these declarations, her character will be lost
beyond the power of reemption.
" Neither can Austria avoid taking her share in the
disgrace, and still less in the dangers w hich threaten her.
The ambitious proji cts of the Czar are no longer so pro-
blematical, or his power to promote them so doubtful, that
Metternich need wait another overt act of Muscovi!e ag-
gression. The very genius of the Russian empire is a spirit
of conquest ; and her military organization and well-known
colonies for recruits, are alone sufficient to inspire a distrust
and dread of her deigns. It is now above a century since
the vast plans of conquest, in part conceived by Peter
and the Empress Elizabeth, and afterwards matured by
Catherine, have been steadily and invariably put sued.
First, the Swedish provinces, necessary to their early dc-
velopement, were subdued, then the Tartar Princes it, the
south and west were reduced to submission ; the decayed
(ondition of the Persian and Ottoman monarchies next

offered a tempting prey, and province after province was
di.severed, with scarcely a note from Europe in thei
heloilf. Then the distractions and conspiracies of Pulan
were commenced, until that kingdom finally fell withi
her grasp. "
Engaged with this recent acquisition, Russia may
now, perhaps, pause in her curer, hut hhe will soon agai?
resume her suspended projects, and Austria next must be
the sacrifice.

" Towards her, the same Machiavelian policy will be
pursued as heretofore to unhappy Poland.
" Vague and general hints may be dropped of the
natural and paternal interest felt by the Emperor for all
her Polish subjects ; and then some indefinable right of
protection, or at least of intercession, will be claimed for
them. Plots will be farmed, or casual disturbances fo-
mented—the paid agents of the Czar will openly invoke
his assistance; and with some such plausible excuse for in-
terference, a demonstration of force will be made, and Ga-
licia annexed to Muscovy. But let not Austria imagine
that the most costly sacrifice can ever deprecate this evil
deity: when was the lust of conquest satiated with indul,
Puce ? Hungary and Bohemia may next become stages
upon which ►he same drama shall be repeated ; the Tyro-
less will he urged to arm for their independence ; until,
finally, the empire of Austria is reduced to the Archducy,
itself to be swallowed in its turn. Prussia, now his near
ally, and the ready instrument of every ambitious scheme,
must eventually share the same f.te ; while Saxony, and
all the minor states of Germany, will scarcely he dignified
with a separate ukase of extinction. For Sweden, what
hope can remain, confronted as she is now is by the whole
coast of Finland, and her capital, almost commanded by
the guns of Aland; besides having a claimant to her
crown, closely connected with the Imperial Court ?"
Times.

Those who tell us every day that a re-action
has taken place in the public mind never tell us
that a re-action has taken place in the public
press ; and the reason of tins is plain—because
the Press is a tangible thing, to which we can at
once appeal in case of dispute ; but the mind is
one of those generalities which, in their nature,
resist that description of evidence by which alone
certain moralists will submit to be concluded.
But the Press has something, nay much, to do
with the mind of a country, and may be fairly
appealed to as one of the indications from which
an opinion may be formed as to the general tone
and sentiment of the people upon any given
subject. The Press then, as we take it, is
against the assumption of a re-action having
taken place—it is against the assumption that
the people are indifferent. Putting those papers
which advocate Reform out of the question, how
is it, let us ask, that those which oppose Reform
never allow a day to pass without favouring us
with some article on the subject ? Surely, if a
re-action has taken place, and the people have
become indifferent, nothing can be more im-
politic in those conservative Journals, than
to keep up a discussion on a topic, of
which, according to their account, every one
is sick and weary. Why are they so
anxious about what, as they affirm, the rest
of the world cares nothing ? Willingly
enough would their patrons, the boroughmongers,
sink the question of Reform in eternal oblivion if
they could : but they know well enough that it is
not in their power to extinguish it ; and there-
fore they apply themselves with unabating zeal to
combat it in every shape, and with every sort of
weapon. The meeting at Edinburgh, the meet-
ing at Glasgow, at Manchester, at Birmingham,
and the other great towns, may afford no test or
symptom of what engages the public mind to
satisfy our Contemporaries of the Anti-Reform
school that an interest is felt in favour of Re-
form ; but what will they do with the evidence
which their own conduct bears to the same fact ?
They find that no other subject will go down,
and yet they would have us believe that the
public are already nauseated with the very
draught which they themselves are amongst the
foremost to supply. Truly there is not much
affinity between the conduct and the statements
of these politicians. Matters appear to be in
train, however, for setting them right as to
public opinion, of which they seem to know so
much already. Perhaps, when petitions shall
have poured in from every quarter, they will
allow that some portion of the interest for which
the Reformers have taken credit has actually
survived the indifference which nobody could
discover but the Tories, who wished for it.—
Morning Herald.
The country papers present us every day with
fresh accounts of Reform meetings. The Glas-
gow Evening Post of Saturday last contains an
account of two—one at Kelbernie on Saturday
week, and the other at Paisley, on Saturday
last. At all these meetings great indignation is
expressed at the vexatious delay which has taken
place in the progress of the Reform Bill. The
Renfrewshire Political Union, which met at
Paisley, and at which were present a number of
gentlemen possessed of wealth and consideration,
as Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Speirs, of Elderslie ; Mr.
Maxwell, younger, of Pollock ; Mr. Bonbure,
Mr. Orr, of Ralston ; Mr. Dundas Speirs, of
Gladston ; Mr. Speirs, of Killallon, &e. &e.,
passed several stroll°. resolutions. One of the
resolutions is, " that a petition should- be pre-
sented to the House of Peers, praying them to
pass the Bill without mutilation, and rather to
reject it altogether than raise the rate of qualifi-
cation, or curtail any of the essential provisions
regarding the disfranchisement of burghs." A
discussion took place as to whether -a County
Meeting should be called. Mr. Speirs, of El-
derslie, who filled the chair, in the unavoidable
absence of Sir John Maxwell, said, " The only
objection to a meeting was the congregating of
large bodies of the people, whilst this dreadful
disease was raging among them." Another
speaker, Mr. Simpson, " highly approved of the
.plan of getting up a petition without a County
Meeting at this time, for the humane reasons
stated by the speakers who preceded him, and
thought that by such a course a petition might
be got up which the mail would not be able to
carry." The speakers were nearly one and all
indignant at the proceedings in the House of
Peers.

" The House of Lords (said Mr. Speirs, of Elderslie)
lead disgraced themselves by their conduct on the question
of Reform ; and, should they continue their opposition,
the country could have recourse to what there was prece-
dent for.—(Applause.) The cause of Reform, be admit-
ted, was in a most critical state; but if the Reformers kept
within the law, there was no fear of their success. He
defied any Government to conduct its affairs without
granting reform. Intleed, the country was going to de-
struction between bankruptcy amongst the merchants,
starvation amongst the working classes, and disease amongst
all. He bad no hesitation in saying, the cholera arose
principally from want, and, in this opinion, he was backed
out by the highest authorities."
Another speaker, Mr. Henderson,
" Considered that although the cause of Reform was far-
niter advanced than ever, it was never in a more critical
state ; and that the Reformers should exert themselves
more than ever to secure its triumph, and consider no sa-
crifice too great for that purpose. He disapproved of the
course pursued by Ministers in the unprecedented delay
that had attended their proceedings with the Reform Bill,
while the agitation of the question was bringing down the
people in business in hundreds, and seducing the working
classes to starvation by thousands."

This is not the language of men who have an
interest in confusion—who have nothing to ap-
prehend from a scramble. The speakers are
men who may be said to have a large stake in
the country. They are anxious to protect their
property from the spoliation of the spawn of a
rapacious oligarchy, for whose benefit the Go-
vernment of this country has hitherto been cpr•

tied on. They are out of patience on account
of the calamity which the delay in settling the
Reform Bill has caused throughout their neigh-
bourhood. A circumstance was stated to this
meeting by Mr. Simpson, which places in a strong
light the absurdity of the objection to the lowness
of the 10/. qualification. "In Paisley," he said,
" even by the 101. qualification, there would be
less than 1000 voters---(Hear)— by raising it. to
151. there would not be more than 400 ; and if
raised to 20/., he had counted them even that
morning, and he could assure the meeting there
would not be more than 150 voters—(Hear)—
and what a snug rotten borough !" Now this
town, which, if the qualification, was raised to 20/.,
would not have more than 150 voters, has a popu-
lation of 58,000. If we are to have an uniform
qualification, 15/. would, in most parts of the
country, have few voters ; and even in first-rate
towns, excluding the metropolis, the voters
would he thereby reduced one-third. If the
qualification were to be raised in the metropolis,
and left at 10/. everywhere else, the object of the
Anti-Reformers would not be answered, because
rents are proportionably so much higher in the
metropolis than throughout the country, that a
15/. qualification as the lowest would take hut
few from the number of voters. If, on the other
hand, the qualification is not to be unfair, then
it will be necessary to institute inquiries from
time to time into the state of the boroughs. In
this manufacturing country, places spring up to
importance in a few years, while others, once im-
portant, fall into decay. The wisest course, upon
the whole, will be to adhere to the qualification
in the Bill. We say upon the whole, because
in Paisley 10/. is evidently too high, for there
ought to be more than 1,000 votes for 60,000
souls. We cannot commend too strongly the
spirit and determination hitherto displayed by
the Northern Reformers. At whatever incon-
venience, their example must be followed, be-
, cause we are satisfied that the Opposition will
lay hold of the slightest pretext for muti-
lating the Bill. They cannot push too far their
favourite doctrine, that the people mistake their
own interests, and must, therefore, be saved in
spite of themselves ; for the claim to infallibility
of two or three hundred individuals, in less
favourable circumstances for acquiring knowledge
than almost any equal number of men in the
empire, is of too insolent a description to he
thrown too often in the teeth of the people.
What a nation wills it must obtain. The people,
therefore, must be the architects of their own
fortune ; and their conduct must determine that
of the Peers. The moment the Peers venture
to assert the principle that the opinions of any
set of men ought to outweigh the opinion of the
nation, they destroy the foundation on which
alone a privileged code can repose with security.
We have, before closing these observations, a
word or two to exchange with our contemporary,
the Standard. We yesterday observed, that if
the Reform Bill secured to the people the benefit
of good government, there was no reason for
apprehending that it would not satisfy them, and
that if it failed to secure that benefit to the
people, there could be as little reason for wishing
that they should be satisfied with it. Our con-
temporary exclaims— _ _

" Here the people being ' actor et judex,' judge and
party, is to decide how much is their right, and when we
remember who they are that in this matter call themselves
the people, we can be at no loss to guess the extent of their
demands. They are not the kind of persons that will take
a part of what they consider their right, if they have the
power to take the whole. The whole they will be able to
take if they plant their feet once upon the Bill. So that,
up to that point, change must be expected, and the real
question is, can the Legislature confide in the moderation
of this party-judge?"

But we anticipated this objection by the re-
mark, that in old countries, the difficulty of ob-
taining subsistence, and the means of indulging
those wants, which custom has rendered neces-
sary to comfortable existence, will always be a
sufficient security against unnecessary agitation.
Our contemporary meets this by a quibble, and
by statements which make against him rather
than for him.
" All countries (he says) are, as countries of equal age,
and when we talk of new and old countries, we of course
mean new and old systems of government and manners ;
but the Bill will give us both new—and it will in a par-
ticular manner confer upon us that amount of idleness which
The Morning Chronicle admits to be the element of
change, but which we deny to be an essential element.
The Italian Republics and the Republic of Holland were
all hives of industrious citizens, and yet they were con-
stantly the prey of factions and the victims of changes.
Old Governments they certainly were not, for democracy
is never long-lived; but, in every other sense in which
countries can he called old, old they were. We do not
allude to France, because we have not room to allude fully,
and we will not be guilty of the discourtesy of meeting the
Morning Chronicle's observations upon the analogy of
France, by an unsupported contradiction."
. .

What we meant by old countries was suffi-
ciently obvious. We meant countries densely
inhabited, by way of distinction from countries
like America, newly settled by civilized men, in
which abundance of fertile land is to be had on
easy terms. In England the soil has long been
occupied, and the demand for its produce by a
numerous population is such, that no man can
hope to obtain a comfortable subsistence who
does not toil hard for it either in mind or body,
or who does not possess from former savings the
means of commanding it. In such a country, a
man never for a moment is allowed to forget that
by diligence alone in his calling can he hope to
escape destitution. Such is the competition in
every branch ofindustry, that it is with difficulty
a man can establish himself in the world ;
and if he fail in one trade he can hardly hope to
succeed in another. In a new country like
America, on the other hand, it seldom occurs
to any man that he can be in want of subsistence.
Hence, in the course of not many years, the same
man will be farmer, merchant, lawyer, physician,
land-jobber, and the Lord knows what besides.
The Americans, therefore, have necessarily more
leisure for politics than Englishmen can ever have,
and to them, the constant meetings for one pur-
pose or another, may be only a pleasunt excite-
ment. The people of America can therefore
occupy themselves, without injury, with a
number of political experiments, for which
we can have no leisure in this country. And
as we observed, the dissatisfaction caused by the
necessity for meeting so often to satisfy stupid and
impudent Lords that there is no reaction in public
opinion, affords a proof that the people are not
inclined in this country to occupy themselves
with public affairs more than is necessary. But
what an instance—the Italian Republics, and the
Republic of Holland! In the first place, Hol-
land was not a democracy, and few of the Italian
Republics were democracies. Switzerland, too,
is a confederation of republics, but few of them
are democracies. If we consult history, we shall
find that all Governments are constantly chang-
ing either from external or internal causes. The
Italian Republics did not undergo more changes
than the neighbouring principalities, and they
were the only spots where life and property were
tolerably secure. Even yet a place, which has once
been a republic, can be distinguished from the rest
dale state to which it belongs from its great prospe-
rity. As to the United Provinces, they had their
share of factionB and changes, though not more

than ourselves ; but in no part of Europe has
there been so much order and tranquillity as
the United Provinces since their separation fronj
Spain. The tranquillity of Switzerland is pro.
verbial. These are the countries in which men)
who are forced to leave their own, settle, in pre,
ference—in spite of the disadvantages of climate,
from the peace and security to be always found
in them. This is one fortunate particular which
distinguishes us, and to which we alluded yes-
terday—we are secure from the interference of
strangers, and a standing army of any magnitude
is not required here for defence against foreign
aggression. The Dutch, unfortunately for them,
were neighbours to a powerful and unprincipled
Monarch, whose aggressions led to the destruc-
tion of the De Witts, and the ascendency of the
Prince of Orange. At a subsequent period, the
King of Prussia, stimulated by England, entered
Holland with a large army, to enable the Prince
of Orange to set himself above the laws. Swit-
zerland was overrun by a powerful neighbour.
The League of Cambray deprived Venice of
her ascendency. The wars of religion in Ger-
many deprived several free towns of their in-
dependence. Let us hope that more enlightened
views will be prevalent hereafter in Europe, and_
that Governments will be less exposed to change
from external causes. But be this as it may, it
would require a sturdy Anti-Reformer indeed,
to maintain that any one of the States alluded to
by our contemporary would have been better
without than with the liberty it enjoyed. The
question for the people of England, however, is
not what accidents happened to this or that free
State or despotism, but whether they shall re-
nounce the desire to secure themselves against
glaring abuses in their own Government, be-
cause it is possible that the change which so se-
cures them may be followed by other changes.
They have experienced to their cost that the ab-
sence of Parliamentary Reform does not secure
them against changes—for the Revolution of
1688 led to boroughmongering, and borough.
mongering led to ruinous and expensive wars,
ruinous and expensive wars led to a heavy na-
tional debt and a Bank Restriction Act, and the
Bank Restriction Act and a return to specie to
two revolutions in property, compared to which
all the confiscations in modern times are but
trifles. They think it tune to guard against future
revolutions of this sort. If they have the will
they have the power, for all separatebodies derive
their power from the nation, and can only retain
it with the consent of the nation.—Morning
Chronicle.

We alluded on Monday to the peaceful, the
orderly, the unanimous, the loyal, and the de-
termined spirit of the great meeting which was
held at Edinburgh, for the purpose of express-
ing the satisfaction of the people of that part of
the kingdom at the second reading of the Reform
Bill—their confidence in his Majesty's Mint-
sters, and their ardent hopes that they would
neither lose time in carrying the Reform Bill,
nor fail in the adoption of any means which the
obstinacy of the Anti-Reformers might render
necessary for that purpose ; and here perhaps
we might safely permit the subject to drop ; but
there are still one or two points connected with
it which we deem it useful to state, and to which
wt., shall, therefore, briefly advert ; and in the
first place, let it be observed that a complete and
satisfactory answer was given, at the meeting al-
luded to, to the oft-repeated question of What
is to be gained by the passing of the Reform
Bill ?" The Tories have no idea that any
one can possibly desire the possession of a
political franchise, or bestir himself in behalf
of any public measure, unless there be great,
immediate, or future advantage in view—they
Lave always acted in their own persons upon the
sordid principle of personal benefit being the
sole and only motive of human action—and
hence not being able to comprehend how others
could think of acting on any other principle,
and knowing that purely personal advantages
cannot result to any one, except in a very few
instances, from the passing of the Reform Bill,
they ask in a manner which they deem to be ir-
resistibly conclusive of the inutility of the mea-
sure, and the propriety of letting things remain
as they are, " What benefit are ye to derive
from it ?" The question might be answered in
a variety of ways ; but we prefer the reply of the
Chairman of the Edinburgh meeting; first, be-
cause it is appropriate, and secondly, because it
met with the decided approbation of a numerous
and highly respectable meeting.

" I know," said he, "it is frequently asked, what better
will a man be by holding this political franchise? I say,
if any man expects, by gaining a vote, to put one shilling
in his pocket by it, he is as bad as the worst of those who
at present vote for Members of Parliament in Scotland !
It is a trust, a sacred trust, and whether it is held by one
or another, every one who holds it ought always to con-
sider that he holds it for the good of the country. It is
not private emolument, it is not private gain, that any
man can expect to have by Reform in Parliament. lam
sure that there is n,i honest man who has ever attempted
to support that delusion. It is the cause of the country—
it is the cause of good government—it is to prevent bad
government that it is desirable, and th,.t it is necessary
that the Parliament of the country should be reformed—
faonudl
etrhoearleu
inc annyn,o
tot b
tehar
obwa s er
out f a
al sgeahionos dt ,
Rt
ohfeorremmearos otth be
an
toa
say that they had ever said that any other advantage was
to be derived from Reform but the benefit and the advan •
tage of the whole empire."

Yes ! it is the cause of the country, with
causewhichof
the
good
Tories
government, have no
whichsym pa
t IL)? hateful fitl to
s'
the
them—it is to prevent a continuance of a bad
and extravagant Government, in which they de-
light—it is to procure a reduction of the taxa-
tion and a mitigation of the public burdens
which they have entailed upon us—it is to im-
prove the trade and manufactures of the country,
which they have nearly ruined, and to ameliorate
the condition of the working classes, whose
affections they have alienated, and for whose
misery they care not—it is for these great and
public reasons that a Reform in the representa-
tion of the country is desired and desirable—that
it is prayed for and demanded—that it is sought
after, and will be enforced—and not
for any of
those base, mean, and co • irupt reasons, which
have been the only grounds of action with our
enemies during the last half century, and the
only motives with which they are familiar.
It will be observed, secondly, that at the Edin-
burgh meeting there was no idle prating—no
paltering in a double sense about the principles
of the Bill. The measure was received as
a whole, as a good and wise measure, and
its clauses commented on, not as matters
which might be altered without injury to the
principles of the
• I—(language, by the by,
which we do not well understand), but as con-
stituting of it—as being the
eery the very essence
very things on which not only the identity of the
Bill, but its utility as a great moral engine, de-
pended.
This point was particularly adverted
to by Sir J. G. Craig in the courbe of his speech,
and we now bring it forward, in order that nei-
ther the friends nor the opponents of the mea-
sure may be alarmed on the one hand, or de-
luded on the other, by false assertions and mis-
representations. The clauses of the Bill con-
stitute the Bill itself; and must be passed entire