The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-08 00:00:00

LONDON,
TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 8, 1835.

The House of Commons, at the recommendation
of His Majesty's Ministers, has agreed to accept the
Corporation Reform Bill as amended by the Lords.
We had entertained a hope—a very slight one, we
must confess—that after the declaration of Lord JOHN
RUSSELL, in which he stated his fixed determination

to insist on the Bill in its integrity, should the hu-
miliating concessions advised by him, and assented
to by the House, not succeed in propitiating the
Lords, advantage would have been taken of their
increased insolence towards the Representatives of the
people, to retrieve what had been lost in point of cha-
racter, both by the Ministers and the House of Com-
mons. It has turned out otherwise. We need not say
how much we regret the course that has been pursued.
We are as confident as ever that if the Commons,
relying on the support of the people, had originally
met the haughty pretensions of the Lords with
becoming dignity and firmness, none of the funda-
mental principles of the Bill would have been trenched
upon, and the country would have had a measure
worthy of being hailed with unmingled satisfaction.
But we will not indulge in unavailing regret..
Instead of uselessly lamenting that we have not
got all we wanted, and were entitled to, let us
henceforth endeavour to make the most of what
we have got. Let us use the instrument, imperfect
as it is, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength ;
and we may perhaps find that it will materially assist
us in pulling down the strong holds of corruption.
But above, and before all, let us direct its full force

against those who have shewn themselves the inve-
terate enemies of the people, by a systematic opposi-
tion to every thing which is calculated to improve their
condition and promote their happiness. It is against
the House of Lords that the edge of this and every
other lawful weapon must be immediately turned, for it
is here that the root of all our evils lies. Hence have
proceeded all the obstructions to Reform which we
have hitherto met with, and it must now be engraven
on the heart of every Reformer—.man, woman, and
child—in the kingdom, that while it exists, at least in
its present form, and with its present functions, it is the
natural and irreconcileable enemy of the people.
This language may, perhaps, appear to some people
rather strong, but a moment's reflection will convince
any one, who is not either a Lord or a slave, that it is
moderate, and even tame, compared with that which
truth would warrant. To say nothing of the resistance
made by the Lords to the Reform Bill, and the means
they took to render that Bill inefficient, by amending
it into an engine of the most grievous tyranny over
their unfortunate vassals—not to mention the unre-
mitting warfare they have carried on since then against
every measure which had the public welfare for its ob-
ject. To say nothing of all this, let us glance at the
havoc they have made with popular measures during
the last three months :
" I. The Bill for the Payment of Tithes, and for the Re-
form of the Corruptions of the Church of Ireland.
" 2. Imprisonment for Debt--For facilitating the recovery
of debts, the relief of debtors willing to make cession of their
property for the payment of their debts, the prevention of
frauds by debtors, and abolishing imprisonment for debt, ex-
cept in cases of fraud.

" 3. Municipal Corporations ( Ireland)—To provide for the
regulation of municipal corporations and borough towns in
Ireland.

" 4. Prisoners' Counsel—For enabling prisoners to maize
their defence by counsel or attorney.
" 5. Roman Catholic Marriages—To repeal so much of an
Act of the 19th year of George the Second, as makes void all
marriages celebrated by any Popish priest between Protestant
and Papist.

"6. Reform of Parliament (Scotland)—To explain and
amend the Act passed in the second and third year of the
reign of King William the Fourth, fur amending the represen-
tation of the people in Scotland, and to diminish the expenses
thereof.

" 7. Stafford Disfranchisement—To exclude the borough of
Stafford, in the county of Stafford, from sending burgesses to
serve in Parliament.

" 8. Constabulary Forces (Ireland)—To amend an Act of
the third year of the reign of his late Majesty King George
the Fourth for the appointment of constables in Ireland.
"9. Tithes on Turnips—For the amendment of the law as
to the tithinc, of turnips in certain cases.
" 10. Tithes Recovery—For the more easy recovery of
tithes.

" 11. Witnesses' Indemnity—To indemnify witnesses who
may give evidence before Parliament in cases of bribery."
And to crown all,

" 12. The Municipal Reform Bill, which they have mangled
and mutilated till it ca❑ scarcely he called the same Bill that
it was when it left the Commons."

This is but a small portion of the work of this or-
gan of destructiveness. These are merely a few glean-
ings of the deeds done by our hereditary incapables—
incapable in every respect, except in doing mischief ; but
even these will suffice to supply the most superficial
thinker with a reply to the question, everywhere asked
—" What is the use of the House of Lords ?

We have received German papers of the latest
dates. They bring advices from Greece, which arc
not, however, of any importance. The following ac-
count of the celebration of the Jubilee of the Refor-
mation in Genoa will be read with pleasure by all
who take an interest in the advancement of true re-

ligion :

FROM THE LAIZE OF GENEVA, AUG. 12.—The Jubilee of
the Reformation has just been celebrated at Geneva with ap-
propriate solemnity and genuine popular joy, free from all un-
pleasant alloy ; which was _ not a hide promoted by the pre-
sence of many distinguished clergy meu from Switzerland,
Germany, France, England, Scotland, and even North Ame-
rica. After the hospitable reception of these worthy strangers
at the harbour and in the Botanic Gardens, they were con-
ducted to these persons who had offered, nay intreated to ac-
commodate them. This was on the 21st, in the afternoon.
On Saturday morning, the 22d, there was a grand general
Ecclesiastical Conference, in which several Swiss and Foreign
clergy spoke of the great importance of religion and general
Protestantism, as it is now understood by the Church of
Geneva, contrasted with Methodism in that city. In the
afternoon,. there was in all the churches a distribution of the
public medals, admirably executed by M. A. Borg, a Gene-
vese, settled at Paris, and of an historical essay on the Refor-
mation at Geneve, expressly written for this occasion by the
Rev. M. Celleriee, which were given to all the children of Ge-
neva and the environs, from 7 to 15 years of age, without distinc-
tion of the rank or circumstances of the parents. These children
then proceeded to the neighbouring extensive garden, where
they had dancing and other amusements. Sunday the 231
was properly the day of the Jubilee. It was ushered in by the
ringing of the bells, after which there was divine service in all
the churches, which were handsomely decorated for the occa-
sion. In the evening there was a concert of sacred music in
St. Peter's Church, which was finely illuminated. As soon
as it grew dark, the general illumination of the city began,
which was remarkably fine, especially on the quays, and in
what is called the Rues Gassers, which were so remarkable at
the commencement of the Reformation in Geneva. A mass
of at least 30,000 citizens, country people, and strangers
thronged the streets, quays, and squares of the city, which is
not very large, without the slightest disorder or confusion, or
even any improper expressions. Every body felt the impor-
tance of this religious festival, in which no political feeling
mingled. Thus did the Genevese celebrate worthily, and in
a manner to be imitated by other cities, the great festival, the
festival of their religious and national restoration. On Mon-
day the 24th, there was another ecclesiastical conference; then
a grand entertainment to our foreign guests ; and afterwards
an excursion on the Lake. The greater part of the Jubilee
was favoured by the finest weather. The Catholics in Geneva
and the neighbouring communes were so far from endeavcur-
ing to disturb the festival, that many took part in it by illumi-
nating their houses.

The Paris Papers of Sunday, the whole of which
we have received, contain the Report of the Committee
appointed by the Chamber of Peers, to examine the
project of law adopted by the Deputies for abolishing
the liberty of the Press in France. The Report was
brought up by M. DE BARANTE, the chairman of

the Committee—a gentleman with every claim to dis-
tinction which it is possible to derive from the most
abject court sycophancy and entire devotion, from in-
terested motives, to the will and pleasure of Minsters.
M. DE BARANTE has the high honour to represent
his Majesty the King of the FRENCH at the Court
of Turin, and in consequence claims for himself a large
share of the sagacity awarded to the great diplomatists
of Europe. To convince his Sovereign that nature in-
tended him for a shadow of royalty-4o: satisfy the
Minister for Foreign Affairs that the very habits of an
ambassador are incorporated with the exercise of his
most ordinary faculties, even in the capacity of a
legislator—he has drawn up the Report more in
the form of an official note addressed to a crowned
ally, than in that of a document merely in-
tended to convey to his colleagues the opinions of a
select few on a measure submitted to them for approval,
alteration, or rejection. Assuming it as a matter of
the greatest moment that the Chamber of Deputies and
the people of France, should first_ of all be impressed
with a most dread conviction of the power, the wisdom,
the learning, and the immaculateness of the Peers,
M. DE BARANTE begins his Report, in a strain of
lofty bombast, w!lich only not • disgusts, because too
ridiculous. Perhaps, for a Committee of the Peers to
report upon a Bill, passed by the Deputies, without
Suggesting any amendment, may have appeared to M.
DE BARANTE a proceeding so extraordinary—a proof
of representative legislation so wonderfully perfect--that
he considered it his duty, in order fully to make public
the wisdom of the Deputies, to dwell upon the great-
ness of the assembly in which any act of theirs was
wholly approved. " The project before us," reports
the Noble Ambassador on the Press-gagging Bill
passed by the Deputies, " introduces most important
changes in the penal laws and nature of legal proceed-
ings, and it is we, invested with judicial fzenctions—
we who number amongst our body so many learned
and illustrious magistrates belonging to the highest
courts of justice in the kingdom—we whonz public
opinion regards as a conservative assembly—it is we