Star.
London, England, 1831-05-23 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THR JOURNALS.

TIMES.— On Belyistm—The apprehended conflict between th
Dutch and Bel glans, at Antwerp, has been postponed; and perhaps fo
ever prevented, by the timely interference of the French envoy. It i
pleasing to see the French diplomatic body co-operating so zealously
and faithfully with our own, in restoring order, or warding off hostilities.
The present Belgic ministry, which appears to consist of more reasonable
men than any ministry which has enjoyed office since the Brussels revolu.
don, has made reports to Congress on the state of the foreign and domestic
relations of the country. The attempt to open a negotiation with the
Dutch Government for the settlement of their common differences, was
itself a great step towards a more promising state of things. We have
already mentioned the known purport, and actual extent of the nego-
clations with Prince Leopold for becoming King of Belgium. The
Belgic Minister observes justly, that neither the Belgic Regent nor the
Belgic AI inistryhad thiaown to bestow. Thedeputation toLondon to con-
sult thcPrince'sdispsitloteon the contingeneythat it might be offered him
had no mission to offer it. It was, in fact,invested with no official character
from the Regent, but held all its power from the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, and could not bind the government by any of its acts. The
Minister for Foreign Affairs, and could not bind the government by any
of its acts. The Minister for Foreign Affairs has promised further in-
formation on the subject in a secret committee, and we shall recur to it
as soon as we have room. In the mean time, let Prince Leopold spindly
make up his mind " to be or not to be" a king; fora representation
was, on Friday, laid before Congress from a friend of the Prince of
Salm-Salm, a Gaman Liberal, declaring that his Serene Highness would
accept of the Belgic crown if it were offered him. This explicit and
candid offet excited, strange to say, a great deal of hilarity in the as-
sembly.
TI MES.— The Elective Franclaiee..—We have received letters on
the subject of the proposed elective franchise in towns and counties,
which may be thought to merit attention. Our opinion continues ad.
verse to the admission of voters who are not in some degree independent
of a landlord's vindictiveness or caprice. A tenant at will, no matter
how large his occupancy, cannot be an independent voter under any
circumstances, in respect of those premises, or that farm, from which
his landlord has the power of suddenly expelling him. It is no
answer to refer us to the forty shilling freeholders, and ask, are
they " independent?" We are not bound to defend any given
class of electors because we find reasonable ground of objection
against a different class. It may be quite true that forty shilling
freeholders are, generally speaking, by no meanualified to give in-
dependent votes, but they are already In possession of the franchise,
and it might be very difficult to prevail upon Parliament, at this mo-
ment, to deprive them of it, or on the country to sanction such a de.
hrivation. Again, es we re told by another correspondent, who signs
imself " An Essex Land lord," a 101. householder, liable to be ejected
in six months, is no more a free agent than the tenant at will
of a farm of 100 acres True enough; and if the Legislature were
to adopt the advice of our correspondent, specifying seven years
as that unexpired term, which every man must have to qualify
him for the exercise of his franchise, we do not see that much evil
could arise from it; but on the other hand, that, combined with a mo-
dification of the stamp duties, facilitating both the execution of long
leases, and the addition of supplemental ones, before the expiry of the
old, the leasehold and derivative interests throughout the country might
be considerably strengthened. Let it be well understood, that the
actual existence of qualifications to which a sound objection might be
made, cannot by say means be urged upon a statesman, as involving
him in the necessity of either abolishing them, or of greatly adding to
their number.

POST.—The Eisettiofte.—The Northamptonshire election has
reached its close in the return of the' Reform" candidates, a result
brought about by means entirely worthy of the great cause in which the
government is embarked. With It terminate the elections for England
and Wales; those for Scotland and Ireland are nearly concluded; and it
is now unhappily but too plain that the House of Commons about to
assemble will contain a considerable majority pledged to ' the bill, the
whole bill, and nothing but the bill.' This result may be traced to various
sources; and first among them, in fearful promineney, is seen the
" bludgeon and brickbat" system--the system of mob indmidation and
terror. Till now we would not have believed that atrocities such as
those which have disgraced many districts during the late elections
could be associated with the name of Briton ; still lees, that men or
education and intelligence could, in effect, give their sanction to these
murderous excesses, perpetrated in, the King's name ! and consent to be
1 raised by such means to a seat in a deliberative assembly. How have
these practices contrasted with the language held by our Gracious So-
vereign on the dissolution of Parliament!—with the desire he then ex-
' pressed that the calm and dignified sense of his people might pronounce
on the most momentous and vital question that ever was submitted to
the decision of a Nation

The Duchess of Kent visited the King and Queen on Sa-
turday.
A conference on the affairs of Belgium was held by the
ministers of the The Great Powers on Saturday afternoon at the Foreign
Office. There were present the Russian, Austrian, and Fieneh Am-
bassadors, the Prussian Minister, Count Matoushewitz (on a special
mission from Russia) the Baron de Weissenburg (on a special minims
from Austria) and Viscount Palmerston. The conference lasted shoot
three hours.

In three weeks such a Parliament will meet as England
never before was blessed with. We hope to see a standing order made
and enforced, that no mover shall speak above half an hour, sad no
debater above a quarter. Without some sucb regulation, the And-Re-
formers may be as obstinate as Mr. Cartwright, at Northampton, se
Mews. Shaw and Moore, at Dublin, and keep the hopes of the nation
in abeyance fur many months. Two hundred speeches on the lose Sine.
of the bill, besides points tin the committee, may otherwise furnish Gee
thousand discourses of one hour each, which, at six per eight, would
employ thirty.three weeks in speaking and bearing 1 One dinner.lielf
per night has hitherto been all that the appetites GC outubsol boot
required.

DRURY-LANE THEATRE.
The perforators of this house were on Saturday not a little surprised
,to lad that Mr. Dunn, the treaeuree did net make his appearance
'at the accustomed hour of 1 o'clock. 'Souse of the lees provident in a
profession not remarkable for much forethought In pecuniary mat-
ters, became exceedingly alarmed, when another half-hour passed
away without any prospect of their salaries being forthcoming;
and their alarm was not abated by perceiving that Mr. Liston,
one of the star", whose claims are the first to be answered, was
DOW waiting with anxiety among ins fellows for the liquidaron
of his weekly claim on the theatre. Rumours in abundance
were immediately propagated to account for this unlooked-tor
occurrence, and some went so far as to say that the great diminution of
the receipts since the dissolution of parliament had left the treasury
without funds. Those speculations were, however, speedily set at
rest by Mr. George Robins, Mr. Dunn, and Mr. Rills, the solicitor
to the theatre, who entered the green-room at 4 o'clock, and assured
the performers that all demands would be paid as heretofore. Alr.
Robs, in a few words addressed to those assembled, stiked, that a
very serious dispute had taken place between Capt. Polhill and Mr. A.
Lee, the acting manager. lie was happy, however, to say, that the
delay which had taken place in the payment of the salaries of the per-
formers had not arisen from want of funds, but was entirely owing to the
dispute between the gentlemen whom he had named ; and as there appeared
to be no chance of an amicable arrangement, Mr. Lee had handsomely
declared, that rather than be an impediment .o the payment of the es-
!arise of the performers, he would at once secede from the mansgement
of the theatre. The only sacrifice the performers would be ailed upon
to make, was the gratuitous performance one night at the close of the
season, for the benefit of Mr. Lee. To this proposal the performers
gave a ready and tiranimous assent, as a just compliment to the
kind and gentlemanlike manner in which the manager has conducted
himself during the period of his rule. We understand that the
articles of separation between Captain Polhill and Mr. Lee were
then prepared. and preaentcd to Mr. Lee for his signature ; but
from a reason with which we are as yet unacquainted, that gentleman
did not think proper to sign them, and the payment of the eidetic' was
therefore necessarily postponed till Alooday morning. The immediate
causes of the disagreement which led to these events have not been
made public, but we have heard that the jealous rivalries of two fair
vocalists had, for some time, created much dimension in the manage-
ment. The pretensions of Mrs. W. and Miss P. instead of being left
to the jsdgment of the public, were decided by the sympathies of the
co-lessees, and the result is probably now before us."