The Sun.
London, England, 1829-10-07 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

Our readers will find in another part of our 1
impression an ample report of the proceedings
on Monday at Newark. In a letter from a gen-
tleman in Jamaica to his brother, a Clergyman,
in this country, which will appear -in the
Chronicle of to-morrow, he mentions that in
the house in which he lives an interesting little
girl, of about ten years old, had lost her eye by
a blow of a whip from her mistress, and that
when he first came lie had been regularly dis-
turbed every morning at day-light by the sound
of the whip, applied by this humane landlady.
Not having acquired a relish for these Jamaica
usages, he happened to mention at a tea party
what he had witnessed, with a view to learn
whether he could take the woman before a Ma-
gistrate, when a lady present, shocked at this
meditated outrage on vested rights, exclaimed,
" What, Mr. --, would you prevent the
woman doing what she pleased with her own ?"
In like manner the Duke of Newcastle is quite
shocked that any one should object to his ruin-
ing all those inhabitants of Newark, who, in the
conscientious exercise of their franchise, refused
to vote for Mr. Sadler. " As I - respect (says
his Grace in his naive epistle) the liberty of
others, so must I demand that others shall not
attempt to interfere with that freedom and inde-
pendence, which is my right as well as theirs.
According to my interpretation of the advertise-
ment, you meant to deliberate upon an inter-
ference between my tenants and me. Is it pre-
sumed, then, that I am not to do what I will
with my own ?" My own ! What, exclaimed
a New Zealander, ani I not to eat my enemy;
when I had the trouble of catching and killing
him ? Circumstances give to his Grace the
power of ruining, if he pleases, the electors
of that Borough ; and it is quit selon les regles,
his Grace thinks, that he should ruin them if
he choose. Am I not to do what I will with
my own ? The Duke, it seems, holds by
lease certain Crown lands round the borough.
" To such—(said the framers of the report read
to the meeting)—to such as are unacquainted
with the situation and circumstances of Newark,
the extraordinary power acquired by the Duke,
from the possession of these Crown lands, would
appear incredible ; but their immediate conti-
guity to the densely inhabited part of the town
renders a portion almost indispensible to every
merchant, tradesman, and shopkeeper ; particu-
larly so, were the staple products, as in Newark,
are meal and malt. In regard, therefore, to the
possession of property so useful and so valuable,
the power created by the fear of losing it on the
one hand, and the desire of acquiring it on the
other, affords a powerful and almost irresistible
temptation to the prostitution of the elective
franchise, so long as the power of the disposal is
allowed to remain in the hands of a Nobleman,
who, viewing the property of the Crown as if it
were his own paternal estate, says, 4 Have I not
a right to do what I will with mine own ?' and
who considers the privilege of controuling elec-
tions one of the inherent rights' which belong
to it. Within the circle or belt of Crown land
surrounding the town as before mentioned, the
Duke of Newcastle possesses property to some
extent, consisting of both land and houses.
This property is held from year to year, without
leases, the tenants of which, upon an under-
standing which has grown up from communica-
tions with the Duke's agents, that they would
not be disturbed in their occupations, have
considerably improved the properly. The Duke,
by this means has acquired the power of fining
the tenants fur their integrity in voting, far
greater than the usual and wholesome influence
eehich property can confer." There is no ques-
tion to the cause of the notices to the Duke's
tenants. AT: is not pretended that they have
not paid their ;7ntB punctually, it is not pre-
tended that they have the property, or
that it is required for corh!emplated improve-
ments. His Grace stands upon ni: right to re-
move, as Shylock did upon his right to Lave his
pound of flesh from his debtor ; and the only
conceivable cause for exercising this right is the
refusal to vote for Mr. Sadler. According to
the theory of the Constitution, the people elect
their Representatives in Parliament, and by way
of encouraging the delusion, that the people
really elect their representatives, laws are passed
against bribery, prescribing oaths to be taken by
the electors that they are not bribed. As was
well stated at the Meeting by Mr. Serjeant
Wilde, " The law has sought to guard against
any encroachment upon this privilege, not by a
penalty Alone ; it has put it in the power of any-
body to tender you on the day of election a
solemn oath ; you may at the poll be required
to swear that you have not received any rewarel
or promise thereof, and could any man of sound
honest feelings come to the poll and swear that
oath if he held a house on such terms ? I say
that such a man would be guilty of perjury both
within the letter and the spirit of the Act. Is
it not then an extraordinary thing to hear the
Duke's friends say that he permits you to oc-
cupy the houses only on condition of giving.
him your votes? What must be the feelings of
a man in such a condition, when the Gospels
are put into his hand, and he j 2 required to
swear that he has taken neither fee nor mvard ?
Surely he could not take such an oath lief
thus there is a dkeet attempt to tamper with
your consciences, as well as with your duties and
your rights." Here then we have a man allow-
ing his property to be occupied in eeeli a man-
ner that the occupants are at his reeler,
and making use of the power he has in
confiscating the investments, which, on the
faith of understandings with Lie agents,
they have made in the improvement of thee
property, because they refused to perjure them-
selves by voting against the dictates of their con-
science. The law says, a man shall not bribe
an elector ; but here is a Duke placing the whole
of the inhabitants of a town in such a position
that they may risk great sacrifices of property if
they do not vote as he requires. Why does the
law prohibit bribery ? Because electors ought
not to be influenced by corrupt motives in giving
their vote. What then is the placing hg inha-
bitants of Newark in the predicament of eithet-
ceting at the dictation of his Grace, or subject-
ing themselves to a penalty ? Yet this man,
wilco challenged for availing hirer:elf of the di-
lemma in which he has placed the inhabitants of
Newark, holds up his head, and exclaims with es-
surance, have I not a right to do with my own
what I like? The West Indian exclaims, have I
not a right to mangle the body of this black,
when and how I please ? This Ducal Borough-
monger exclaims, hare I not a rielit to inflict
mental torture on my white slave Zen I cizoose ?
And if he will not perjure biiaself for me, have
I not a right to starve him ? It is fortunate for a
country labouring like England, tinder a most
degrading political servitude, when a man like
the Duke of Newcastle appears on the stage.
fle is realty a much greater benefactor to his
country than any of those Noblemen who exer-

else their power with more delicacy and tact. -
He does not attempt in any manner, by even
the common courtesies of life, to reconcile the
people of Newark to their political degradation.
" He neither contributes to their charities, nor
does he promote their trade—he lives in their
recollections only from the periodical visitations
of the rent collectors, and in the rare case of
defalcation of rent, it is exacted with the
strictest severity." His nominees " have
ever been iEtsensible to the promotion
of the interests of the Town, holding their
seats but to swell the number of his Grace's
claims upon the Minister of the day for the ad-
vancement of his own personal and family inte-
rests ; and so completely have such Members
been the puppets of the Duke, that at his plea-
sure he has displaced and displaced them with-
out notice to, or the knowledge of those to whom
they nominally were indebted for their elevation."
For the sake of human nature, we are inclined
to think that there is not another boroughmon-
ger in England who would have acted as he has
done towards Thomas Bell, who, according to
the report, " has received a notice to quit, not-
withstanding that he resided in the same house
six years before it was purchased by the present
Duke's grandfather, and notwithstanding that
he is now seventy-seven years of age, fifty-two
of which he has lived in the same house, never
having been during that time a day behind with
his rent." In the event in English History,
celebrated by the genius of Dr. Southey, the
insurrection of \Vat Tyler, it was the indelicacy
in the mode of ascertaining whether one maid
was liable to the poll tax that stirred up the
people to revolt. In the Duke of Newcastle we
see boroughmongery in its worst shape. Ail
slave-owners do not mutilate their slaves ; all
t orough proprietors do not turn old men of
eighty to the streets. But these instances enter
the minds of those who can feel rather than rea-
son. The power to inflict these injuries with
impunity is what grieves the reflecting. Bo-
roughmongery is a sad degradation, whether it
is exercised with the courtesy to be expected
from a humane and enlightened Nobleman, or
with all the stupid rudeness and insensibility to
all the charities of our nature, which we witness
in a Duke of Newcastle. The influence of pro-
perty is unfortunately the only influence which
is not allowed under our system ; for a property
in human beings is not a property which can be
tolerated.—Morning Chronicle.
The benevolent portion of our readers will be
pleased to see that a committee of distinguished
Spaniards has, at the solicitation of the unfor-
tunate refugees from Portugal, been formed, on
the principle and for the purpose recommended
in the Times of Monday last. The names of
the eight individuals who compose the new com-
mittee are such as will doubtless be held unex-
ceptionable by all the Constitutional Spaniards
in this country. A letter, signed by the several
members of the committee, who amount to
eight, and at the head of whom stands General

forrijos, is subjoined. It announces the
willingness of the parties to act on behalf of
the poor unprovided soldiers, by distributing
whatever sums may be charitably subscribed for
their use ; and, whether much or little, it is
right that the offerings of beneficence should be
turned to the best advantage. An atrocious
effort, an abortive one we hope it will prove, has
been made by an evil-minded Sunday print, to
deter humane Englishmen from contributing to
the preservation of those wretched sufferers in
the cause of liberty, on the ground that so many
working manufacturers in England are poverty-
stricken by the consequences of the free-trade
system, and have prior claims upon our cha-
rity. It is not the first time by thousands that
hypocrisy has been made the stalking-horse of
faction. The poor of England are in Eng 7
land, and are by law entitled to parochial pro-
vision. The labouring manufacturers may not
have high wages, but they have some wages, if
they choose to accept them ; and, as a body,
they have meat, drink, clothes, and shelter from
the storm. The English manufacturers have
riot been entrapped by the uncertain policy of
their ovwit or any other Government into a state
of rigorous bondage, under the show and pro-
mise of enlisting them in defence of liberty.
Where, then, is the parallel between the case of
weavers, who are only not rich, and captives,
who are only not famished ? Without going
into very minute particulars, or seeking to throw
blame anywhere, we must affirm that English
policy has not been altogether clear of imputa-
tion for the distress with which our miserable
Spanish clients are afflicted. They betook them-
selves across the Estremadura frontier, rather
than join in those aggressions upon Portugal
which Mr. Canning, backed by the Duke of
Wellington raid the British Parliament, declared
to give substantial cause for war on the part of
Great Britain against Ferdinand. Some among
these refugees, with the proud and independent
with to relieve the funds of English charity
from all I,n-,necessary pressure, withdrew their
names from the list •of pensioners in
this metropolis, and betook themselves to
Portugal, then occupied by British troops, and
held on behalf of Pedro and his daughter, con,
sidering that it was more honourable to receive
pay from the Princess Regent than alms from
the public here. But Miguel came : the sworn
Lietitcn4iit of Pedro made himself Sovereign of
that kingdom which we had, for Pedro's sake,
by a British force defended. These honest and
credulous champions of true loyalty were first
pl4nged by Miguel into the holds of prison,.
ships, aiid •t.hen cast starving beggars on our
shores. This, wit.:; submission to the :ultra-
monopoly Sunday-writers, is a case deserving
s4rfte little sympathy from men who arc alive to
the spirit of justice, and whose hearts, though
not Anti-Catholic, :pay perchance be Christian.
We observe that there is sonic talk about a pro-
mised auinesty from Ferdinand VII. Who will
—who can trust his amnesty ? Who can speak.
with a (nave face of an amngety issuing from that
faithless despot and his Camarillo, s of :a se-
curity which they would advise the meanest fel-
low-creature not weary of life to act upon. The
leiter from the Committee of, Epanish officers
appoii4d by the refugees will be read with in,
terest by ail wi,o have feelings to be touched.
The checks upon a misapplivtion of any little
fund that may be raised are worthy tp bp imi-
tated by other charities, and among them that
which requires every order for money, however
small, to lie signed by at least three of the Com-
mittee,