The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-14 00:00:00

A!`Yrroit;! ll'ibition

SUN OFFICE Three o'clock.

A petition was presented to the House of Commons
last evening, from Mr. WARBURTO.N, late Member for
Bridport, furnishing some curious details respecting the
worthy electors of that borough, and their worthy repre-
sentatives. The document appears among the. Parli-
amentary debates, and, though of great length, will amply
repay perusal. Mr. WARBURTON had no alternative.
Though known and admitted, even by his political op-
ponents, to be a man of high honour, and one of the
most sincere Reformers that ever sat in the House—he
had been maligned by some of the less scrupulous, and by
none more than the Secretary for the Home Department,
who was chased from Cumberland for his apostasy, and
was glad to find shelter in the pocket borough of one of
those Church-and-State patriots whom, in a virtuous fit
of indignation, he described as " great birds of prey."
" What has become of Mr. WARBURTON," said Sir .1
GRAHAM, at the mock election for Dorchester, " the
immaculate supporter of purity of election, the staunch
friend of the late Whig Government, where is he ?"
Mr. WARBURTON is, therefore, • determined to answer
the question in person, and promises to lay before the
Committee a scene which the friends of the Right Hon.
Baronet will not thank him for provoking. He voluntarily
comes forward and demands an investigation for himself
and his late constituents. This cannot be refused, un-
less all the Members, and they are not few, who prac-
tised bribery in secret, are determined tia protect it
openly. Mr. WARBURTON Will tell the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth, and enable the House
and the country to judge between the innocent and the
guilty. If such things are done in a place like Bridport,
where the electors generally were considered un-
tainted, what must have been the corruption, the
shameless purchase of votes, and the degradation of
candidates and voters, in a hundred places notorious
for ages, and without any character to lose ? The
system altogether is hopelessly corrupt. " The whole
head is sick, and the whole heart is faint." A speedy
and radical cure is imperiously demanded, and all who
throw obstacles in the way, for the purpose of screening
the guilty and continuing these disgraceful practices, can
be regarded only as the abettors of crime, and the ene-
mies alike of religion and morality.

We thank Mr. DUNCOMBE for publicly denouncing the I
cowardly practice of certain Members of both Houses of
Parliament, in attacking the character of individuals out
of doors, who have no means of defending themselves, or
of calling their traducers to any account. We are far
from imputing physical cowardice to the Marquis of
LONDONDERRY or Mr. ROEBUCK—they have both proved
themselves brave men, according to the popular estimate
of that quality so common in this country ; but is there
not moral cowardice in attacking the Magistracy of
Sunderland and the framers of the National Petition,
and their pleading Parliamentary privilege when
any explanation is demanded ? The . very fact
of being privileged. to utter slander with impunity,
ought to prevent a Member of Parliament from stating
all the truth of individuals obnoxious to public censure.
A sense of decency, and a proper feeling of delicacy,
would prevent any honourable man from attacking indi-
viduals unable to defend themselves. The contrary
practice is as base as to strike a prisoner in fetters, or
to assault a woman. If the House of Commons wishes
to retain any hold upon the respect of the people, it
cannot too soon get rid of sanctioning attacks upon in-
dividuals out of 'doors. The privileges of Members may
save them from personal violence, but they can neither
screen them nor the House from the odium of the double
charge of being moral cowards and calumniators.

We have received Madrid Journals of the sth inst. '
On that day, in the Chamber of Deputies, Count DE LAS
NA.VAS asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there
was any truth in the report that France was intermed-
dling about the marriage of the young QUEEN. We give
the answer in the Minister's own words :
In answering this question I must observe great prudence
and circumspection ; but I will say enough to reassure the
House in that respect. The dignity and honour of the nation
will not suffer the interference of another Government in an
affair which regards us exclusively. The nation will consider as
an insult any pretension to the contrary. Thus, the Govern-
ment will never yield to the exigencies of any other nation, but
u ill consult the interests of Spain, and adopt the course which it.
deems
most beneficial for them. Such is the political principle
by which the Cabinet will be guided in this affair.
The sth being Ascen..ion Thursday. the Bourse remained
closed.

Intelligence from Barcelona of the Gth inst. states, that the
feast of the preceding day passed off without any disturbance.

There is no political new; in the Paris Journals ex-
cept a rumour that a French squadron was to, bombard
,Tunis, and a Dutch fleet to attack Naples. 01 course
there is not a syllable of truth in either of these reports.
Such, at least, is our impression.
There is no longer a doubt that the Railway Bill will
be carried. The following is the substance of a speech
delivered by Marshal SOULT, upon it in,the ChaMber, of
Deputies, on Thursday. It will be borne in mind that
members of the French Government have the privilege
of addressing either Chamber :
He had declared before the Committee his opinion, that
the vast system of railroads now proposed ought singularly to
favour military operations on the north and east. Lower Alga-
cia was evidently the point which an enemy would choose for
entering France. That wag so evident, so well known, that he
committed no indiscretion in announcing it fromcould ea the tribune
turn
Once that the enemy had entered France, t sily
Strasburg, take the high road to Saverne, and reach the inte-
rior of the country. As bar as the defence of the kingdom was