The Sun.
London, England, 1832-03-26 00:00:00

TOBER 3, %S TO THE BISHOPS.

" But, my Lords, what do those Right Rev. Prelates
sit in the House for ? Is it, I would ask, for their own
sakes merely? No ! They are here to represent the
whole body of the Church, whose interests are in their
hands. Those Reverend Prelates must consider whether
the other members of the Church, whose interests are in
their hands, are favourable to this Bill ; and I say it was
shown during the last election, by their votes and declara-
tions, that the measure was anything but satisfactory to
them ; I say, therefore, it is the duty of the Right Rev.
Bench not to flinch from voting against the measure.

Having disposed of Lord Wharncliffe, the Noble
letter-writer proceeds to the flaggelation of Lord
Ilarrowby :
" I shall content myself (he says, with one or two quo-
tttions from his speech on the last Reform Bill, assuring
his Lordship, at the same time, that the remainder will he
commented on at a proper time and opportunity :

44 EXTRACT FRO3I LORD HARROWBY'S SPEECH,
" October 4, 1831, M. Mal., page 2672.

" But shall lon that ground consent to its going into
a Committee ? I think not. If lam sati>fied that the
principle of the measure is bad, I believe the principle on
which the whole of this measure is founded is such that
no amendment made in the Committee can alter the üb-
ji-ctions to it, so as to make it our duty to pass it into a
law.'"

" Again :—" I do not think it would be consistent
with my duty to myself, your Lordships, and to my coun-
try, to give my vote for the second reading. The Noble
Earl (Grey), however, tells us this Bill, or something
equally efficient, must pass. Now, no Bill equally effi•
cient can be brought in which does not carry the work
both of destruction and creation as far as this Bill; for
nothing short of that will deserve the title of equally effi-
cient. What hope have we, then, of doing any good by
proposing amendments in Committee ?—The door is
closed.'"—Page 267 t.
We can very well understand why men like
Lords Wharnchffe and Harrowby should pause
before committing the country to the conse-
quences of a second rejection of the Reform Bill
in the manner of the last. Circumstances are ma-
terially changed. It was confidently expected by
them that Ministers would resign when they found
themselves in minority, and this expectation was
shared in by the Bench of Bishops. The latter, as
was observed by the Lord Chancellor, conceived
that they would, by voting against the Bill, trip up
the heels of Ministers to get rid of the Bill
and of Ministers at the same time, was a
temptation which no Tory Lord, and no Tory
Bishop could possibly resist. But Ministers did
not resign, and the Bill was not got rid of. Once
more the Bill has found its way to them. Lords
Wharncliffe and Harrowby are too astute to think
of beating Ministers twice by the same stratagem.
Under the circumstances of the 3d of October last,
prudence might recommend the voting against thr
second reading; under the circumstances of the pre
sent time, prudence may present quite a different

course. Lords Wharncliffe and HArrowby know,
in the first place, that a rejection of the Bill may be
effected as well at the third reading as the second.
They may hope that in the interval some things
may turn up calculated to delay Reform. We live
in eventful times. The sky is overcast in Ireland,
and a storm may follow. A war may break out on
the Continent, and we may be dragged into it. We
say nothing of events at home, which it is unneces-
sary for us to attend to more particularly. But
should nothing turn up, and the Bill pass through
the Committee without being materially damaged
still the third reading remains, and if a blow must
be struck by the Tories, it can as well be struck
at lust as at the first. We trust, however, that
Ministers are prepared, not merely for the sake
of the Reform Bill, but for their security in
other respects, to strengthen themselves in the
Upper House. They never can be certain of
their ground for a moment with a hostile House.
The division on Thursday night was a warning,
which they must be insane to neglect. A succes-
sion of Tory Ministers has made the House of Peers
eminently Tory. They are called on, in justice to
their own party, to neutralize the late Tory creations
by a due proportion of Whig creations. From the
time of the American war at least (though we might
begin the reign of George the Third) all the crea-
tions, with few exceptions, are still Tory. How can
3 NV big Ministry hope to conduct the business of
the realm in a House of which the majority must
every moment be looking out for opportunities to
destroy them ? We say, then, that even if there
were no such trying measure as the Reform Bill
before the House, a creation of Whig Peers is in-
dispensible. Who would be dependent on enemies,
when he can he surrounded with friends? When
the nation is dissatisfied with a party, and power
devolves on another, election places one House in
harmony with the people, and the creation of
Peers is the means for producing the same effect
in another. To talk of avoiding the creation of
Peers, from respect for the order, is an absurdity.
The House of Peers and House of Commons must
be in harmony with each other. The Peerage,
then, must receive the accessions necessary to
the working of the Constitution. We can well
understand how Lords Wharncliffe and Harrow-
by, if even determined to vote against the third
reading, should yet consent to the second reading
It is no trifling matter for a few hundred gentlemen
to be at issue with this great nation. These Lords
are, no doubt, well aware that the moment
matters come to extremities in a country, a
Lord is no more than a Cobbler. All the power
a Lord possesses, he possesses by the law ; and
he of all men ought to be the last to encourage
appeals to force. The passages quoted from
Madame de Stael's book on the French Revolution
by Sir John Hubhouse, in which the folly of the
French nobility, in threatening to appeal to a force
they did not and could not possess, is deserving the
attention of Engl:sh Lords. The people of England
have at present great reverence for the law, and
never contemplate violence. But they soon may be
brought to lose these good qualities. A lesson or
two would be sufficient. The people have certainly
been turning things over in their minds that for-
merly they never thought of. Do not, then, let
Noble Lords presume too far on the patience of the
people.—Morning Chronicle.

The Bill "for abolishing the Constitution of Old
England" is now before the Tribunal which is to
pass sentence finally upon that Bill, upon that Con-
stitution, and upon itself. A House of Commons
created by the contrivance of a desperate faction,
for the sole purpose of doing this work of political
destruction, has completed its task, if not conscien-
tiously, at least resolutely arid recklessly. With what
internal feelings the better part of the majority—
not the Humes, the O'Conriells, the Lacy Evanses,
the 'Whittle Harveys, the Maherlys, or the Schons-
wars, but such men as the Ridleys, the Lawleys, the
Heathcotes, the Burrells, arid others of that class,
who have property and character to lase—with
whiit feelings these men may have put Ilse finishing
hand to this Radical work,—wLether they have
dismissed it with the satisfaction which belongs
to the clear conviction of having achieved
a good object, or with the miserable misgiving
which accompanies a reluctant assent to a doubt-
ful and dangerous experiment, we know not and
care nor. Our respect is no longer for them. But
there is a noble bind of Conservative Legislators,
two hundred and severity men, maintaining with the
firmest courage the soundest principles, who are in-
deed entitled to the respect and approbation of their
country. Never has battle been more ably and
bravely fought than that in which these men have
recently been overpowered by numbers; arid if in
that place where, in the same cause, numbers are
riot wanting, there be shown equal courage and de-
votion, the country will be saved. We have ne
apprehension of a contrary result. The duty of
the Conservative Party in the House of Lords lies
as vainly before them now as it did on the former
occasion, while the dangers or difficulties which
might deter them from performing it are either
entirely removed or greatly diminished. The
mind of the nation in general has undergone
a great and manifest change. Of the few who
think for themselves, a part have been re-
claimed from their ardent espousal of the Bill
by the preponderating arguments which the debates
in Parliament, and the higher department of the
Press, have furnished on the other side. The mul-
titude who think not have cooled in their passion for
it, partly owing to the lapse of time, and partly to
the divisions among the Radical demagogues, some
of whom have effectually shewn that the greater
number of that multitude could derive neither bene-
fit nor satisfaction of any kind front the Bill. This
reflux of popular excitement has also been materially
caused by the awakened apprehension of the trades-
men, great and small, of the metropolis. and other
large towns, who are already experiencing a fore-
taste of the miseries which revolution must inflict
upon them. For this class, even now, " the coming
events cast their shadows before." Their returns
have been wretchedly deficient these two last sea-
sons; and, with the example of Paris arid Brussels
before ther eyes, they come very generally to the
conclusion that a good business under the old Eng-
lish Constitution is a better thing than a vote for a
Member of Parliament, or even a seat in the House
itself, with a shopful of unsold goods on hand, arid
no profits to balance the expenses of their trade.
But that which has most contributed to produce this
ebb of the Reform tide in the public opinion is the
universal contempt into which the present Admi-
nistration has fallen. Their incapacity is so
generally admitted that even the Times no
longer denies it; while the Radical party, in
addition to a profound contempt for their in-
competency, is filled with rage against them for
their tergiversation in the occasional abandonment
(as in the tithe question) of the true Radical prin-
ciples on which they came into office. It is in that
quarter that the fiercest hostility towards this Go-
vernment exists. The enmity of the Tories is not
unmixed with some pity for the wretched condition
of these men ; but the Radicals, Irish and English,
are full of unmixed resentment. They accuse them
of the violation of all the professions and principles
by which they acquired the assistance of the ultra-
liberal party to get into office; and they are
often heard to protest, they would prefer
the Tories as Ministers, because they are, at
least, consistent in their aristocratical measures,
and infinitely more tractable and conciliating, in
the application of them, than these haughty
overbearing, insolent, arid treacherous Whigs•
The necessary effect of this distaste for
the authors of the Reform Bill has been to abate the
zeal of the multitude for the 8111 itself. It has be-
come cold and stale in their feelings; and let the
Lords decide as they may, their decision will excite
no general tumult, whether of exultation or of dis-
appointment. The vehemence of the Times will
find no response in the country. Under such cir-
cumstances the result can surely not be doubtful.
In the face of great danger the Lords did their duty
nobly and fearlessly before; in the midst of safety

tliey will not shrink from the discharge of it now.
.horning Post.
We are glad to learn that Lord Grey is so much
alive to the tricks and deceptions of the Tory Lords,
that he has ordered a circular to be despatched to
the Reform Peers, earnestly requesting their atten-
dance on the first reading of the Reform Bill, in the
house of Lords. It has invariably been the custom
for the first reading of a Bill to be conceded by their
Lordships sub silentio—but as no law authorises
that custom, it is but prudent in Lord Grey to be
prepared for the worst. The Tories are fighting for
their very existence, as a party, and for what they
have loug considered as belonging to them exclu-
sively as individuals—the disposal of the national
purse; we may, therefore, expect every trick to be
resorted to—every deception to be practised—every
promise to be evaded. The Bishops in particular
slew in every division how little dependance can be
placed on their support. In the debate on the Lords
on Thursday, fifteen out of eighteen divided against
Lord Grey ! Would it not be insanity to put any
confidence in the professions of such men ?—News.

BAD GENERALSHIP.

(From the Examiner.)

To such a pass has Lord Grey brought matters,
that victory itself will not free him from reproach.
With every power at his disposal, he has contrived
to secure every ill consequence of weakness ; and
on whatever course of conduct he may now deter-
mine, a mischief, to a greater or less degree, fore-
gone or attendant, will be found. Success he may
easily achieve, but blame he cau by no means escape.
Suppose he were to-mcrrow to create the required
number of Peers ; the question would then be,
Why did he not that at first, which he has done at
last ? Why has the public anxiety been so cruelly
trifled with ? Why has drooping confidence so long
been denied this restorative ? Why has trade been
paralyzed, industry starved, when the pledges for the
peaceable settlement of the great question would have
banished the depressing apprehensions ? Why, in-
deed, except because the Minister has wanted cou-
rage, zeal, or sagacity. Could he not see to what he
must ultimately come? could he not see the mischiefs
and miseries that were in progress, while he was dal-
lying with faction and deferring the necessary and de-
cisive remedy? If he conld not see these things,
he was the only man, not in the hostile interests,
who was blind to them. But perhaps, seeing them,
he deemed the injury and distress of thousands as
nothing, compared with a shock to the pride of his
order ! 'While starving industry waited for bread,
the aristocrat continued to enjoy the fulness of self-
complacency, and both conditions were to be termi-
nated by the same act, hence lordly sympathy may
have interceded for delay. But, even in this view,
Lord Grey's reason is seen at fault ; for,by deferring
the creation to the last extremity, he implies that it
is a measure fraught with ill consequence to the
House of Peers, from which he shudderingly re-
frains, till compelled by a peremptory necessity.
Tenderness for the suffering people, or tenderness
for the pampered Peers, should equally have dic-
tated a prompt exercise of the prerogative. He has
acted like a surgeon evincing such a nervous reluc-
tance to an indispensable operation, as to give the
patient to suppose that he deems it mortal. But we
have been speculating on the just reproach that will
belong to the best course of conduct which, at this
late hour, Lord Grey has left open to himself. It
is possible, however, that he may he infatuated
enough to reckon on carrying the 81l without a
creation. He may think of the opposition as the
ingenious Sir Abel Handy thought of the house on
fire, " Perhaps it may go our of itself." The Op-
position in the House of Commons, where opposi-
tion has its popular penalties, remains unchanged,
unmitigated; and can it be that Lord Grey calcu-
lates on any change in the more interested and irre•
sponsible Lords? He was mistaken before, and
certainly he may be mistaken again, but a second mis-
take will not leave him, as the first, softly-seated
in his place, and cheered with the confidence of the
country. We can easily believe that he finds the
Bishops passing sleek, and has encouraging intima-
tions from many Noble Lords; but, though sworn on
the Gospel, they should not be trusted, with an
empire's peace at stake. Pretences for a rupture
they can never want up to the last moment—the
lion and lamb quarrel is always to be picked, if
Lord Grey is content to leave his party powerless
and at mercy. We have throughout expressed our
conviction that the Tories would not be so indiscreet
as to reject the 8.1 l on the second reading, the re-
petition of the blow in the sore place might be too
haz trdous an experiment on the patience of the
country; and suppose they swell the Ministers' ma-
jority on the second reading, so that there may in-
deed seem to be oo occasion tor the creation delayed
over that trial. Suppose further, they allow him a
majority in the Committee, and thus take from him
the reason for a creation which has been so long
reserved for the appearance of a last necessity;
and after all this, they may, at the twelfth hour, at
the question of the passing of the Bill, desert; leave
the INlinister in a minority,with the fool's label, " who'd
have thought it," in his mouth, an incensed nation on
his hands, and the world's contempt on his head.
Our hypothesis has nothing impossible in it; faction
is not scrupulous; it allows itself all stratagems;
and, when reasoning on Tory conduct, we must take
into account Tory motives, or the motives which
Tories may assign in vindication of an artifice, not
allowable under ordinary circumstances of Parlia-
mentary warfare. They believe, or pretend to be-
lieve, that the destruction of the country would be
consequent on the success of the Bill ; and, to save
the State, is it to be supposed that they would deny
themselves the advantage of a trick ? For such an
object, real or pretended, would a seeming com-
pliance to lull Lord Grey into security, and prevent
his employment of the only means of safety, ex-
ceed the compass of their consciences ? Let
Lord Grey remember the lesson of wisdom taught
in the old fable of the cat who shammed dead—
la nz;.flanee eat mere de la Nilrete.
It is, undeniably, in the wide field of possibilities,
that the Peers may pass the Bill—that their escape
front the perils threatened upon the last rejection
may not render diem foolhardy against those belong-
ing to a second rejection—that they may be the rare
exceptions to the proverbial effect of crying wolf
too often. But even in this case—(possible, as it
is hard to say what is not, within the range of hu-
man action)—yet what would Lord Grey do, by
carrying the Bill through an unaltered House of
Lords, but leave an after-schism between the
Reformed and the Oligarchical branches of the Le-
gislature? and after all the derangements and inju-
ries to trade and industry we have experienced within
the last twelve months, and with some fresh addi-
tions to them, the necessity would remain of bring-
ing tme two Houses into harmony by a creation.
At the same time that the Commons House is
reformed the Lords should be brought into concord
with it, and the State redressed in one operation.
Should Lord Grey omit this part of the work, he
leaves a fruitful source of strife to perplex himself or
his successors, and trouble the peace and prosperity of
the country for many a day of feverish and fierce
agitation.
We will not now fatigue our readers with repe-
tition of remarks on the conduct of Government,
which we presented months ago, when some of our
contemporaries, now loudest in their remonstrances,
were indulging in the Fools' Paradise, in whfch they
are so much at home, and chaunting hymns of praise
rl
their
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those
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careless and omissive part with the part of the
people, performed with prodigious energy, and in-
volving great sacrifices and great risks; we com-
pared it also with the conduct of the Monarch,
which, so far as it had been seen, was worthy of the
occasion, and honourable to his Kingly office ; and

these comparisons brought a conviction that the
blame of any failure must lie against the Ministry,
and be referable to its want of zeal in the cause. Since
that time we have seen no signs of vigour to correct
this impression, nor have we observed any purposes
having a correspondence with the desire of Reform.
On the contrary, as different subjects in succession
have come under consideration, we have been made
,o ask ourselves the question, can these men be Re-
formers, or for what can they be seeking a means
which must be fatal to the abuses, be ween which,
and the public disgust, they are daringly flinging
themselves ? It is possible that, in all such inferences
and conjectures, an injustice is done to Ministers,
or to some three or four honest men among them;
but they have now only one way of delivering their
characters from suspicion, and that is by securing
success. A disaster damns them. Victory itself
leaves them with all the reproach of the country's
unnecessary troubles for the last six months; but
defeat would cover them with the hatred and scorn
due to the worst of traitors. Let them take the
best course of which their unfortunate position al-
lows, and make sure of the present and future good,
though they cannot retrieve the past errors.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 24.

The House met to-day at a few minutes before Four
o'clock, when the LORD CHANCELLOR, the Duke of
RICHMOND, and the Earl of SHAFTNsBuRY took their
seats as his Majesty's Commissioners. The Commons
having been summoned, the SPEAXER appeared at the bir
accompanied by about 30 Members, amongst whom were
Air F. Burdett, Lord Stanley, Alderman Wood, Mr.
Dundas, &c.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then read the Commis-
sion, when the Royal Assent was given by the Clerks in
the usual way to the following Bills
The Mutiny Bill—the Marine Mutiny Bill— the To-
bacco (Irish) Bill—the Coal (Irish) Bill—the Irish Post
Office Bill—the Consolidated Fund Bill—the Paisley
Gas Bill—the St. Luke's Parish Improvement Bill, and
about eighteen private Bills.

Lord -KING presented a petition from an individual
against Political Fasts. It was stated by the petitioner
that the national calamities that had aristn in the country
were induced by bad government, and not by national sins.
The Bills on the table were then forwarded a stage, when
the House adjourned.