Star.
London, England, 1831-02-28 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

The accommodating politics of the QUARTERLY REV I Lw
have long been too well known to the world; but, to add to
its services, a number has been brought out before its due
time, for the purpose of publishing a sort of party mani-
festo against Parliamentary Refonu. We had intended to
bestow some notice on it, but the debates and events of the
week have better filled our columns. The CA LEDON lAN
MERCURY, a paper remarkable for its discreet politics and
good writing, has, however, anticipated us, and as the opi-
nions of the writer exactly accord with our own, we give
it place, with immediate reference to the great topic of the
week.

" The phillippic against Parliamentary Reform, is said, but we cah-
oot believe it, to be regarded an the manifesto tithe Wellington and
Peel party, for the appearance of which prior to the Ist of March, the
publication of this namlxT has been precipitated. Making every allow.
anise for a political adversary, who may conscientiously entertain opi.
Mons different from our own, we are Jim to say that we have seldom
met a paper so abundant in hardy and unblushing perversions of faet,
and such a tissue of lame, inconclusive, stale, and exploded reasoning
as it presents. Taking the very first position with which he sets out,
the sudden unanimity in favour of relent), was ever any thing niece
absurd than the cause to which he auributes it ?—namely, the dread
of physical force. We, hi common with other ordinary oh,treers,
should have attributed it to the fact of the reins of government hoe Pig
suddenly and unexpectedly fallen into the hands of a set of titer. .;:o
had most of them, during a longer or shorter in rind uf their lives. sd
vocatcd the cause of reform, anti who could net, wither' the grossest
inconsistency, abandon its principles the moment they got into pow: r.
" Parliamentary refute:Nis. we suppose, not different from many ot':cr
subjects which have futnished waiter for discussion during the last halt
century; the conviction of its necessity has been silently prol:r
and only waiting for a favourable opportunity of making its vote,. e
heard. That opportunity has arrived sooner than was expected, .and is
a great degree owing to the folly of its enemies—or at least its pirte.md
enemies—for it is difficult to believe that the tame great man who
effected Catholic emancipation can be at heart an enemy to Parlismen.
tray reform. The Duke of Wellington's Tory enemies to least die
not believe him sincere; for, recollecting the letter sent to Dr. Ce .
tis, and what so soon followed, they had some reason for acing to
each other, when he made his famous declaration against Warm.
'We cannot believe him—he his probably a plan of parliamentary re.
form in his pocket at this moment.' It is possible that Sir 'Cohen Peel.
who has dor.c so much to reform the ahems of, and introduced so many
changes, in our legal and municipal institutions, can with any cunsis-
tettcy oppose that refenn in the constitution of the !louse .f Comm,.
which
,is necessary to comet abuses springing front the same causes
as those to wnich he has himself applied a cleansing hard. Finally,
although there might be no immediate question about Parliamentary
Reform in the country, the manner in which the Duke of Wellington's
declaration %pin" it was received, the burst of surprise and indignation
which it excited theoughout the country,; and his consequent utmopu.
larity and speedy retirement from efllce, were all circumstances to afford
an impressive lesson to any ministry that should attempt to carry on the
I government without yielding to the wishes and feelings of the country,
thus dearly pronounced.
" When the writer states, that however unanimous may be the voce
of the country in favour of reform, the change after all is merely on the
surface, and that of opinion, properly speaking, there has scarcely been
any, be must be either morally and physically blind arid deaf, or wil-
, fully so. When be says that the parliament as now constituted, has al.
ready proceeded nearly as far in the work of retrenchment as it is pessi.
Me—that a reformed one would have little more to do—that the clamour
against sinecure placemen and pensioners is all • infiarnmatory and
wicked delusion'—that a reformed parliament would not be mote ecoro.
mical than the present, and not less likely to engage in foreign quarrels.
which has always been a main Muse of the increase of the public bur.
dens—that we are the best governed and the happiest people on the face
of the earth, &c. &e. he certairly affords us a measure by which to
weigh his own opinions, and at the same time evinces a most so.
vereign contempt for all fact and experience, and for the opinions
of the great mass of the community who have come to opposite
conclusions.

" We shall only say, that with the experience of the last fifty years
before us. of the benefits we have derived from our House of Itepre.
aentatives, the hundred and twenty millions of debt which it entailed
upon us, to support the principle of taxing our unrepresented colonists
in America, and the thousand and odd millions to prevent our French
neigi.ltours from governing themselves as they bad a mind to— lthh our
guns laws—our poor laws—and our corn laws, which have increased
the vice, misery, and wretchedness of the lower classes to an extent
never before witnessed in any Christian or civilised state t we think
with these results staring him in the face, he must be a bold man, in-
deed, who would leave the guidance of this great nation, and the count-
less millions of her dependencies, to such an assembly, for the half
century that is to come. If the "demon of public opinion," (one of
whose bumble satellites se reckon ourselves) has latterly somewhat eon-
trouled the operations of " the demon of corruption," under whose bon-
nets the Quarterly Reviewer most certainly lights, we we alkaid the
odds would be yet fearfully against him, if we had net some other se-
curities for our liberties and property. The Reviewer cannot conceive
how, even under the most moderate reform, " the Allister is to find
places in the House even for the olllcial organs of his administeados, or
how he Is to conduct the business of the Government without them.
He may assure himself that his fears on this had are entirely ground.
Whatever is done, the Ministry will be sure to take measures to
seams itself.

When be quotes with approbation, some maws of an article in the
Edinburgh Review, supposed to have been written by the Lord Chan-
cellor 24 or 28 years ago, by way of contrasting the opinions then en-
tertabsed by that distinguished person with those he now professes, we
would ask him if a quarter of a century is not likely to make some
, material changes in the state of a man's opinions, and if it is not pew
bah!e that these changes will be for the better. The ChaoreatLatt,
we think, return the compliment, by referringwith equal
to an article in the 83d No. of the Quarterly Review, public 177 w
as December 12211, in which the House of Commons was not treated
exactly as the very epitome of all excellencies which it is Dow discos
vexed to be. The writer of that article (be cannot, of course, be the
author of the present) ventured to talk of its ineffidency—its want of
independence.—its versatility, and its change of character fot dm worse,
aid even went so far as to recommend alterations in it, which we, in
*GUT simplicity, thought amounted to something like Parliamentary
Refoim. Which of the two exhibits the greatest inconaisseney.—eba
yowl% Edinburgh Reviewer and the grave Lord Chancellor, (allowing
the" lobe ow and the awwW—al a quarter of a century dims/tee or the
Quarterly Review at hums months interval ? If the Lord Chancel.
for were now to follow the present *titer's advice, and to recant the
opinions which he avowed just before his elevation, and equally avowed
from the woolsack after at, what would be his reward, but to be pointed

I.