Star.
London, England, 1831-03-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURNALS.

Ti aelre.--The ennionely-expected motion of Lorpcli:polhen: Rthuessell:umie,
forward last night, fora Reform in Parliament. Ministers, through his
proLordp:Eseldp,isdano nefotectipla‘yewointhe. thtiltpenfeewslingse
poll:tem()
we
shall
say a
few
words t the first is the magnitude of the present House. This 1,
great grievance, and more especially as most members now choose u.
show tbetr dexterity insmaking ; indeed, a seat in Parliament sprirgi
from n
Rentalcathiugpael..ty forHww wwerlw.ithtelodinm,bitutuseetietr
intro beintalwfmwesumt
bneencezawetytaia,;,,.
It appears to us that the present members for rotten boroughs shoal,'
leave the House, as a matter of form, whilst their existence is discuss,,y
In any case, if he dissolution be found necessary, they will rot ahk,
their appearance in the house again, as none but madmen would rqu.
chase their seats; and the now infamous and marked-out nomin.
Peers, and other opulent persons, would be justly handed over to can.
dign punishment, or popular indignation, if they should dare to °tutu&
themselves into Parliament. Speaking in general terms, we app,„,,
of the present plan most sincerely. We do not press all others la,
it as we do; but we advise the country most strenuously to sql„,,, :t.
The crew of a stranded ship do nos examine too minutely the autri,
' the vessel which is to take them off the wretched island on which the.
are cast, to a place of plenty and safety. No one can deny but thi.
whatever is in the bill is good : to dispute whether parts might not Is!better, better, is to afford the adversaries of all reform the handle they would
wish. To the House we should say, " Pass it pass it." To the pea.
pie, " Urge in every way the passing of the bill : all for it, press 1.,
forward." Let the public cast their eyes over the fiat of rotten boroughs
as contained in Lord John Russell's speech. Their mock represents.
tives will not much longer insult the common sense of all mankind, by
retaining seats in a British House of Commons, to pass laws which are
to bind the men of England.
CHILONICLE.—The people are now in possession of the Reform ter.
templated by Ministers. It is extensive, and must, we think, obtoir
for them, throughout the country, the reputation of a sincere desire t.
improve the national institutions. We hail this Reform as an imnsers,
benefit to the nation ; and we are greatly mistaken if it hr not gene.
rally viewed in that light. The Plan, which is said to be Earl Grey's,
evinces a disposition to trust to the support of such a proportion ere
the population, as cannot possibly be influenced by the usual means
of corruption. Lord John Russell's calculation is, that five hundred
thousand persons, connected with the property of the country,
will, by the measure, be added to the constituency. For Sec:.
land. which has hitherto been as close as a rotten Borough, a
constituency of 00,000 is an immense improvement on 3,000. mink.
tors are sure of the support of all that is respectable in the nation. We
defy the interested opponents of the measure to appeal to a single preju.
dice, which shall rally round them one independent individual. Honesty
is often the best policy, and we arc confident it will prove to be so in
this case. Had ministers proposed some paltry reform, merely skinning
over the present corrupt system, they would have been abandoned by the
people, the opposition would have supplanted them, and a frightful
struggle might have taken place between the people and their sucevsson.
But by rallying round them all that Is respectable in the country, they
may set all corrupt interest, at defiance. They must be bold men, indeed,
who would think of attempting to withstand the government, backed by
the nation, in times like these in which we live. As far as we are able
to learn, the plan of ministers has considerably exceeded expectation.
It has given great joy to the most honourable and disinterested of their
adhereats in the house. On the other hand, Sir Robert Peel and hi,
adherents seemed to be struck by the announcement of the plan with
absolute dismay. We hold it to be the bounden duty of all reformers,
whatever may be their particular notions respecting the nature of r.fonr.
which would most benefit the nation, to ask themselves this simple qua.
don—Will not the plan of ministers bean immense Improvement of out
institutions, and can they possibly hope to obtain so greats benefit inn)
other way than by giving their most strenuous support to ministers at this
conjuncture? Ministers have done their duty ; let the people do theirs.
The Englishman, who, at a moment which is to determine whether his
country shall be rescued from the thraldom under which it has so long suf.
fered, hesitates to snake one grand exertion for this paramount object.
deserves to be driven, with ignominy, from the society of all respectable
men. Even the corrupt tool of Borough-owners, who on ordinary occa-
sions might have had little scruple to sell himself, will, we should think.
hesitate to commit the damning sin of contributing to a result that may
plunge the country into difficulties which we dread even to think of.—
Should it be necessary to dissolve Parliament, even the potwallopers of
the Boroughs, which it is proposed to disfranchise, will be ashamed to
send to Parliament Representatives hostile to Reform. A dreadful
responsibility attaches to those who may, for interested purposes, array
themselves against the King's Government and the nation at a conjure.
ture like the present.
POST—The momentous question of Parliamentary Reform was last
night brought forward in the House of Commons. The debate was, of
course, most interesting, the subject being of more vital importance to
the country, than any legislative deliberation which hu taken place since
the Convention of 1818. We are in possession of Lord John Russell's
statement, and we do not hesitate to say that the matters it embraces
are, practically, of as revolutionary a character as those upon which
that famous Convention decided. At that time a necessity arose,
and the Legislative Bodies were forced upon a Legislative
Revolution—at present a necessity is presumed. This pre-
sumption hu its foundation either in base political cowardice, or in
deep designs to which we shall not venture to give a name; but, acting
upon it, a measure is presented by the Government to the House of
Commons, which tramples upon the rights and privileges of property
—shatters at one sudden blow institutions that have subsisted for cen.
min and around which innumerable interests have grown and pot.
pencil-utterly changes and subverts the established rules upon which
the conduct, and even the character, of the people has been framed,
and thrusts upon us a revolutionary theory, absolutely alien to all our
practices and habits. We ask any reasonable man to say, what security
ire thinks he would hare for the duration of any establishmen in this ca.
Lion, were such a scheme to become the law of the land ? We grant the
plausibility of much that has been stated—we know the cunning with
which the statement is framed to meet the taste of the "march-of-in.
tam" class, whose little learning is so dangerous as to make than
suppose, the great political machine may be taken to pieces, and put
together again, like the parts of a steam-engine; and who knows rot
that when such a torrent of innovation is once set in motion, no human
saguray can foresee the point of destruction at which it will stop.
We can see that many will think they find reasonableness in the plan
" upon paper," but we can tell such persons, that were the plan de-
veloped by Lord John Russell the best theory for just representation
that could be devised, it is one utterly impracticable in its details. Let
those who know any thing about county chalets% and the tricks, shifts,
and difficulties which belong to them, even when the cleverest profes-
sional assistance, and the personal superintendence of those most intr
rested, are given to them, consider how a poll is to be taken in all the
hundreds of a county at once! The idea is absurd. There is a certain
calmness and even feebleness in Lord John Russell's manner, which
takes away from what he says, me astounding effect that the
same announcements from a more energetic person would have; but
the more they are thought upon the more determinedly and darkly
revolutionary do they appear. He spoke as if the public mind were
made up for change, as if a desperate people were knocking at the
door of the HOMO, commanding its Members to destroy the insti.
rations in virtue of which they sat there; but this is but the device
or the delusion of a revolutionary mind. We deny that the
people are so disposed, and we trust that a very little time
will thew that the present Government malign and traduce the
people of England when they represent them as weary of, and
disgusted with, the institutions, under which they and their forefathers
have risen to such a pre-eminent rank among the people of En
We feel convinadtbat the present Ministry cannot stand as the chant-
pions of doctrines so revolutionary, and disfranchisement's° important
they know selves that they cannot ; and, finding their incapacity
for Government to be such that they could not retain office, they have
been driven to the dreadful expedient of flinging such a firebrand as this
revolutionary MUM into the arena of public affairs, in order that their
successor, may be seared, or scorched, in their efforts to pure the
country, upon the princiares of the Constitution as it now is.
Prince George of Cumberland, attended by the Earl of
Errol and Sir George Quentin, coursed yesterday in Hamp-
ton Court and its neighbourhood.
The Spanish Minister bad an interview yesterday with
Viscount Palmerston, at the Foreign Office.
Viscount Palmerston had an interview yesterday with Ear!
Grey, at the Treasury.
The Duke of Wellington arrived in town yesterday front
his seat at Strathfieldsay; his Grace had a dinner party in
the evening, at Apsley House.
A report was in circulation yesterday, that General Bout-
mont, accompanied by the Duke of Bordeaux, left London
yesterday morning for Madrid, to take the command of the
Spanish army. We know not what authority the report is
entitled to, but it was believed in a respectable quarter.—
Chronick.

We are becoming more and more entangled with the
Belgic question. The different ambassadors here (with the
exception of Prince Talleyrand, who refused to sign the
protocol) have invited France to join England in blocked ng
all the Belgian ports, if Maastricht be not immediately cleared
of every obstacle to a free intercourse with Hollaud. The
obstinacy of Belgium may lead this Government to measures,
the consequences of which we dread to anticipate.—/hid.
A Courier arrived yesterday at the Austrian Ambassador's,
bringing information that Austria has determined to exert
herself to the utmost to put down the Italian Revolutions.—
Dup.—Yesterday, at his residence in ILIDOVIIt4tISet.
Hanover square, John Fenton Cawthorn', Esq. 111. P. for
Lancashire.