The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-29 00:00:00

[BRITISH PRESS.)

The Society which, under the specious and
imposing title of " a Constitutional Association,"
has undertaken to controul the public press of
this country, has re-published in some of the
Ministerial Eapers a copy of the original address

on the first establishment of this system, and also
a long list of the Noblemen and other persons
who have subscribed their money for its support.
The publication of this catalogue of names is no
doubt intended at the present moment to 'operate
as an answer to all the serious charges that have
been addressed in and out of Parliament to the
principle and, spirit of this association. The list,
we readily admit, contains the names of many
individualN eminent no less in rank than in pri-
vate merit, but the respectability even of their
characters cannot divest the association of the ori-
ginal vice that is essential to the principle of its ex-
istence. The association consists of some hundreds
of persons of various classes of society, whose opi-
nions and modes of action are no doubt as far
removed from each other as are the several cir-
cles in which the individuals respectively move ;
but in the catalogue their names are, by the
levelling necessity of an alphabetical arrange-
ment, placed in strange juxtaposition. Here we
find Bishops associated in unconscious familiarity
with men nowise remarkable for their observance
of moral discipline, the trifler of the west end of
the town with the plodding calculator of the
alleys, Lords, Commoners, Generals, Aldermen,
Admirals, Treasury scribes, a French Lady of
quality, a Minister of the Crown, sundry Lawyers,
a large assortment of young Ladies, with a va-
riety of letters purporting to be the initials of-
names which the owners were ashamed of ack-
nowledging before the public. In an association
composed of such motly materials, it is too much
to expect of the public that it will rest satis-
fied .with the assumption of so formidable a
power by an. unauthorised society of indi-
viduals, solely because in so large a list may
be found the names of some persons of acknow-
ledged integrity. Who can guarantee the judi-
cious exercise of the discretion which they have
assumed, or assure the public that the influence
,and. power of the whole body will be exerted
b-y the authority of the particular individuals who
are put forward to sanction the principle and
object of the association ? Are not the ample funds
of the society, with the exercise of its nominal
discretion, at this moment lodged in the hands
of a single attorney; and such being the fact, is it
not an absurdity to talk about the respectable
names which are to be found in the association ?
These distinguished persons do not direct or con-
trol the proceedings of this society ; they know
nothing of the party who is marked out for per-
secution, nor of the particular publication which
is to be presented to the Grand Jury as a libel ;
they have not taken the trouble to inquire i:rtfl the
man's general character—into the circumstances of
his domestic affairs-7-whether he may have erred
with evil design or through ignorance—nor have
they in consequence of such anxious investigation
finally resolved in a full meeting of the body to
measure their united strength with his individual
means) and to devote the unfortunate man with

his wretched family to irremediable ruin ; they _
have taken no precautions against the possibility
of having vindictive prosecutions commenced in .
their names, and conducted with their money;
they have, in fact, confided all their power to the
hands of one or two persons, with whom it now
rests to select any publisher in the kingdom for
destruction ; we say absolute destruction, for
there are not many persons in the kingdom whose
capital embarked in the trade of printing and
publishing could endure the unequal conflict of
defending prosecutions after prosecutions against
a society so distinguished by rank and wealth as
is this mis-named " Constitutional Association."

Yesterday, fIAZ A 1113 and Co. sold No. 15,702
drawn yesterday a Prize of Twenty-one Thou-
sand Pounds Consols• It was divided into a Half
and eight Sixteenths, and sold at IlizAno and
Co's. old established and fortunate Offices, Royal
Exchange Gate, 26, Cornhill) and 324, Oxford-
street.

EXECUTION, AT WARWICIi.-00 Friday morn-
ing, a few minutes before eleven, John Bingley,
William Dutton, and .William Batkin, convicted
before the Hon. Sir-J. RICHARDSON, Knight, at
'the last Assizes, of forging a 5/. Bank of England
Note, suffered the awful sentence of. the law, on
the Drop, over the door of the County Gaol.
A MONSTER, dressed genteelly in black, has
lately infested the fields about the Alpha Cottages, and Lord's
Cricket-no-round, Mary-le-bone, and attacked and maimed fe-
males about dusk in the evening. Two instances reached the
Police on Friday and .Saturday evening. • The first was a
yOung lady named Jones, who was accosted in a familiar way
by the brute, but on her rejecting his impertinent entreaties,
he wounded her in the arm with a sharp instrument, and made.
off; Saturday night a nurserymaid, with two children, was
accosted by the same person in the fields, who made a most
wanton and indecent attack upon her, and afterwards cut her
in the hip.
The Commissioners under the New Street Act
have allotted a piece of ground in the Regent's
Park, opFesite the Crescent, Portland-place, to
those unwise persons, who, without adequatt
cause, engage in duels.- The place is indicated by
a board, upon which is inscribed " Rubbish mad
be shot here."

THE LONDON PITT CLUB.

BIRTH-DAY OF THE IMMORTAL RIGHT HON
WILLIAM PITT.

71'he Anniversary of Mr. Pirr's Birth was yes-
- terday commemorated at the City of London
tavern. T. S. Goode, Esq. M.P. presided.—He
• cutered the room at a quarter before seven, pre-
.,:eded by the Stewards, who walked in proces.
rip!), a4id followed by a long trftin of Noblemen
and Gentlemen ; among whom were 'the Lord
k:h•-.lnceflor, the Duke of Wellington, Earl
t3tithurst, the Earl of Wesltmlrland, Lord Vis-
unt Sidrnouth, the Earl of liarewood, Sir C.
I ower, Sir R. Vaughan, Mr. W. Bootie, M. P.
c. c.- he cloth removed, and " Non Nobis
.Domir:e" having been impressively sung by
Bellams, Leete, Hawes, Taylor, and
o:her musical Professors,
The Cuts as IN gave, " The King, God bless
him," with three times three.
Thy, toast was drunk ‘vith the utmost enthu-
s:a:n. It was welcomed with loud and long
continued shouts of applause, and when these had
subsided, a new and fervent shout called up again
those who had resumed their seats, while hand-
kerchiefs waved in every direction, and the most
unbounded satisfaction and delight were express-
ed by the whale assembly.
• " God save the King" was then sung with
great applause, the major part of the company
joining in the chorus.
The .CIIAIRMIN then called the attention of
the Meeting to the important services rendered
• to the country by Mr. Pitt. In his conscience
Ire believed it to be through his firm and perse-
vering resistance to French arms and French
principles that England now existed as an inde-
• pendent nation. He had saved this country from
the iron-handed grasp of the Despot of the Con-
tinent, and England had survived the storm which
had threatened the overthrow of the rest of the
world. Though the meeting which he had then
the honour to address might deeply regret the
distress which at present existed in the country,
the distress must he regarded as the necessary
consequence of the struggle in which the country
had been engaged, and of this at least they must
- be certain, that modern patriotism and revolu-
tionary principles would not help the people out
of those difficulties with which they still had to
contend. The sheet anchor must be sought in a
steady, constant, and persevering adherence to
the principles of Mr. Pitt ; at whose revered
- name, every truly British heart must glow with
gratitude. He then gave, " The Immortal Me-
mory of Mr. Pitt,"with three times three.—(The
toast .was drank with loud acclamations.)
"The Navy and Army of. the United Kingdom."—" The
House of Brunswick ; and may they never forget the principles
Which seated them on the Throne of these realms ;" and, " The
Protestant Ascendancy," were the next Toasts.
The whole of these toasts were received with great applause,
but the last was particularly distinguished, and the Glee of
" The king and the Church" was frequently interrupted by the
shouts of the assembly.
• rne "
The Hea CHAIIthRMAN of his Maj es,' next pty's Mi roposed
n,
iste with n
rs a appropriate eulogy,
."
The toast having been drunk with three times three,
The LORD CHANCELLOR rose amidst thunders
of applause to return thanks. In the absence of
the Earl of Liverpool, which he regretted, but
which he believed to be unavoidable, it became
'his duty for himself, and on behalf of his col-
leagues, to express their gratitude for the man-
ner in which the Meeting had been pleased to
lonour their humble efforts to serve the country.
It so happ: ned that he had had the honour of
hav'ng a share in the Government of the nation
much longer perhaps than any other Member of
the present Administration. It had been his
fortune to know intimately the views and prin-
ciples of that great Statesman whose birth they
were that day assembled to commemorate. He
_:night therefore take the liberty to say, that if
any thing could increase the gratification which
he and his colleagues felt at the compliment re-
ceived,- it was the. circumstance of its coming
from those who were not assembled to comme-
morate the birth of Mr. Pitt a short time after
the body of that great man had been consigned
to the grave, but who now, at the end of 15 or 16
years, had met to manifest their gratitude to him
who had deserved more, perhaps, of his country
than any man who had ever lived.—(Applause.)—
He believed that he spoke the sentiments of all
Ids Majesty's present Ministers, when he de-
dared,.that, in their opinion, if any merit at all
-was due to them, it grew out of their following
typ the principles and carrying into effect the
plans of Mr. Pitt, for the salvation not only of
this country., but' of Europe and the world.—
There; might have been differences of opinion
among Ministers, as to questions touching the
Protestant Ascendancy and Parliamentary Re-
form; but to his • knowledge, the great man
-whOse birth they • were met to commemorate,
would at any period of his life rather have gone
totis grave than have consented to give up the
Protestant Ascendancy to the injury of any of
the PretestantS of this country. That he was
-willing to concede -to-the Catholics the benefits of
a great and enlightened system of toleration, con-
sistent with the safety of the Constitution and the
pJ:nianency. of our establishments, he would
readily allow, but certain he was that Mr. Pitt
'as not disposed.to go further.—(Applause.)—
Much had been .said of late on the subject of
Parliamentary Reform. He would state what
had fallen from Mr. Pitt the last time he (the
LOrd Chancellor) had .talked with him on that
question. Mr. Pitt then said, 'c We have a Con-
stitution which has enabled me to save the
country, in the manlier in which I have saved it,
from enemies abroad, .and from those who, aim-
ir.g.at a revolution, have made it their buSiness
to disseminate revolutionary principles at home ;
and knowing this, I must say, that whatever my
opinions were formerly, I now feel that such a
Constitution ought not to be rashly sacrificed."—
(Applause.)—lf this opinion was justified by
-what had transpired before Mr. Pitt went to his
grave, how much more was it borne out by what
had occurred since. It was by persevering in
the course which Mr. Pitt had marked out, that
those who had since been entrusted with the Go-
vernment had been enabled to save the country.
But it had been asked, what had we gained ?
would say, we had gained all that we hive
-saved; and when it was asked, what had we