Star.
London, England, 1830-08-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURNALS.

Ttues.—The ex-King of France and his family proceed
slowly to the coast, though their steps are, we infer from the French
papers. to be now somewhat accelerated; while the legislative bodies
proceed, with temper and regularity, in the settlement of the king-
dom. The new oath to observe the Charter could not be tendered
to the Deputies front the accidental want of the previous notices re-
quired by the forms of the Chamber; but it was tendered and taken by
the Peers generally. We respect the conscientious scruples of the
Peer who declined it, yet it must be observed that his doing so is
a proof that he is not under the pressure of fear. This Peer, M.
Dambray, the late Chancellor, is the only one who has yet declined
to take the oath. The Duke de Fitz-James took the oath, after a
speech which affected the Chamber in the most sensible manner, and
by which some impression also must be made upon the city of Paris
and the country. The printing of the speech being required, other
peers qualified their oaths with expressions of regret, or a summary
of their motives. The oath, however, was taken by one hundred
and two members (all, with the exception of M. Dambray, who
were present) of the Upper House, among whom were many
ultra-Royalists. One of the liberal papers—we think with-
out sufficient season—quarrels with the oath. It is thus con.
eeived—" I swear to be faithful to the King, to obey the conatitu.
tional charter, and the laws of the kingdom, and to conduct myself
in all respects like a good and loyal peer of France." This is the
old oath, it is true, and may probably be altered ; but it is generally
applicable to the new state of things: at least we should suppose
that the veriest Jesuit that ever lived could not pretend, that having
taken such an oath, he had not bound himself to be faithful to the
new system. The first attempt to create dissatisfaction with the pro-
ceedings in France has been made in the Buotian land of llolland.
Some of the French fugitives probably have got possession of a Dutch
paner, and arc therein endeavouring to excite the King of the Ne-
therlands to do they know not what against the French patriots.
His Majesty is by far too sensible a man to engage in such an en-
terprise. Ile may view, as others do, the lot of the miserable
Charles Capet and his family with sorrow,—that is, he may regret
that they have been such unprincipled fools, but he cannot but see
that their chastisement is merited. The truth is, that if the late
King of France had succeeded for a while in his treacherous attempt,
the Sovereigns of Europe ought to have combined to chase him from
his throne for violating the charter, and thus making the royal
office despised and abhorred all over the world, to the disturbance of
every nation, as well as the danger of every throne.

Custom tcst.—ln this country the people of property begin at
length to perceive that they are at the mercy of a set of titled men-
dicants, who, by means of what is called virfisai representation,
have been enabled to tax the people for their own separate benefit, to
squander the savings of industry, and mortgage our future resources.
A printed placard has been transmitted to us, containing a list:of 160
sons of Peers, who sat in the Lower House of Parliament. It is ob-
served, •' if he Lords are permitted to usurp the place of the Com-
moners in the Lower !louse, it necessarily reduces the number of parts
(of our constitution)to twoonly,viz. King and Lords. The list of Lords
and sons of Peers plainly shows what ineroachsnents are making on
this Constitutional part of our Parliament ; for, in addition to the
annexed list of sons of Peers who sat in the House of Commons in
the late Parliament, we must add the number of Commoners who
are returned for Boroughs belonging to Peers, and who likewise are
under the controul of their patrons.^ The Peers are in fact the Con-
stitution of England, for all who arc able to command returns are in-
stantly transferred to the Lipper House. The interest of the Peers
in the country is chiefly based on the spoil of the rest of the
community, for the share of private property possessed by the
order bears no proportion to the amount of money which they
draw from the public is a hundred ways No estimate of the
private property of the House of Peers has ever made it
at more than between two and three millions a year.—
But without speaking of church livings, crown lands, sinecures in
colonies not appearing in any public account, 55,000,0001. per ann.
extracted from the pockets of the people of this highly-taxed coun-
try, are at the disposal of this aristocracy ! Never since the begin-
ning of the world was a people so ground down by burdens of all
sorts as the people of England are ground down. The 65,000,0001.
s-year, too, are far front being anything like the whole of the taxes
wrung front the people, as every citizen well knows to his
cost, when he sums up the various rates levied on him,
some in the shape of direct money taxes, others as tithes,
mixed up with the. price of his food. So long as the House of Peers re-
tains Its press nt ascendancy, so long must this profligate expend'.
lure be continued. There must be &raison sujisante for the vote
of every member of the body. They are accountable only to
themselves, and it would be singular if they were to be over-
scrupulous in rewarding themselves. Let us bear always in mind
the expose of Sir James tiraham, of the sum pocketed by the Mem-
bers of the Privy Council alone. The salvation of the country de-
pends on the protection of the productive classes from the fangs of
the Aristocracy. We are happy to learn that more onion and com-
bination is about to be devoted to this all-important object than
heretofore. It is understood that certain Members of the new
Parliament, staunch advocates for inquiry, economy, and rtiform,
are taking measures to insure a greater earnestness of purpose, and
unity of action, than have been yet known in Parliament. One of
the means to he adopted, is a systematic arrangement of the votes on
every question on which there may be a division; and whenever this
arrangement exhibits a laxity of attention on the part of any mem-
ber, appeals will be made to his constituents, to call on him either to
resign or to fulfil more conscientiously the trust reposed in him.
Members of Parliament ought not to consider the Houso,of Com-
mons a place of amusement, to which they may repair when they have
no other;roore agreeable engagements on hand. They ate, or ought to
be, the deputies of the people. The old aristocratical insouciance must
be grappled with. A rock is perforated in time by successive drops of
water. Successive efforts on the part of the people must be rewarded
with good results. Let no man despair, the representation of Eng.
land is not like that of France; but the late elections show how
much people may gain by perseverance. A great moral lesson has
been read to tie aristocracy, as well u to ministers.

HERALD—If the journal called the Nederlandsehe Gedachten,
in commenting upon the political affairs of France, speaks the sen.
timents of the House of Orange, we must say that the principles of
rational frecdcm of which that family were once the zealous and he-
roic defenders, have perished from among the race who reflect no
credit upon their glorious ancestry—sentiments worthy of the Ems.
rial, or the College of the Propaganda, come with an ill grace front '
the descendants of William the Silent, whose illustrious life was
devoted to the establishment of civil and religious liberty.—
Such were not the sentiments that called to the Throne of
Great Britain a member of that family under similar cir-
:unnuances to those which have elevated the Duke of
Orleans to the supreme rank in a Constitutional Mo-
narchy, by that which confers the noblest of all titles— the choice of
a free people. It is curious enough that the family of Orange
should now entertain those opinions of government which deservedly
caused James the Second to be driven from the throne of his antes-
tone, and broke the line of hereditary succession in favour of a
stranger, whom the public voice called in as a deliverer! But
this is not the first indication that we have had of the tyran-
nical doctrines of the King of the Netherlands. The prosecu-
tions in which he has been for some time past engaged against the
Press, become a crow m.d monk better than a Protestant King.
The paper in question tells him that he ought to " oppose,
with all the means that DIVINE PROVIDENCE has given him,
any change being made in the fowl of Government; and, if ordi.
nary means will not suffice, :he Ilia g would have a right to resort
to extraordinary means to maintain the Charter and the laws." It
is obvious what is meant by this, though it might be more clearly
expressed. ii the King of the Netherlands feels conscious that he
has been doing a great deal to provoke his subjects to revolutionary
acts, the best way to effectually oppose any thing like a revolu-
tionary spirit, is to take into his own hands:the.task of political im-
provement and amelioration. Thus will he disarm the democrats
he dreads —thus will he render powerless the spirits that ride on the
storm of popular commotion, and bind all classes of his people by
:he indissoluble bonds of an affectionate allegiance to a constitu-
tional throne. Let him act otherwise, and it will avail him nothing
that he bears a name which once acted like a spell upon the hearts
of those who felt it a holy duty to resist oppression.