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

N°. 13,791.

MR. DYSON'S SPEECH ON REPORAf.
This popular oration has been published as a pamphlet,
but the author forgot us, and we never heard of him till
chance threw his pamphlet in our way. It is a pennyworth
of plain food, not to be despised by the moat refined palates,
and we have pleasure, though excluded from his changeable
constellation, in presenting its substance to the readers of
our fixed Star.
Stick to the Bill—it is your Magna Charts, and your Runnymede.
King John made a prescot to the Barons. King William has made a
similar present to you. Never mind, amnion qualities, good in:com-
mon times. If a man does not vote for the BUI, he le unclean—the
plague spot is upon him—push him into the Lazaretto of the last ces-
tory, with Wetherell and e r—parify the air before you approach
him—bathe your hands in chloride of lime, if you have bean contami-
nated by his touch.
its hr from its being a merely theoretical immvanent, I put it ,
to any moo, who is himself embarked in a pratt or has eves la
the same situsulen, if oho mak inileansa of Hmongitmongors has last'
perpetually thwarted hke in Ms lawthl career of ambition, and probs.
atonal emolument P " I have been in three general engagements at
sea—been twice wounded—l commanded the boats when the French
frigate, the Astrolabe. ess cut Gat so gallantly." Then you are made
a Poet Captain ? ' No. I was very near it, but—Lieutenant Thom-
son cut me out, as I cut out the French frigate; his father is town
clerk of the borough, for which Lord F— is Member, and there my
chance was finished." In the same manner, all over England, you will
find great scholars rotting en curacies—brave captains starving in gar.
rets—profound lawyers decayed and mouldering in the Inns of Court,
because the parsons, warriors, and advocate' of boroughmongers
must be crammed to saturation before there is a morsel of bread
fur the man who does not sell his votes, and put his country up to
auction ; and though this is of every day occurrence the borough sys-
tem, we are told, is no practical evil.
Who can bear to walk through a slaughter-house ? blood, prince,
stomachs, entrails, le" tails, kidneys, horrors—l often walk a mile
about to avoid it.

What a scene of disgust and honor is an election—behold the
base and infamous traffic of principles; a candidate of high character
reduced to such means, the perjury and evasion of agents; the de-
testable rapacity of voters; the ten day's dominion of mammon, and
Belial. The bill lessens it; begins the destruction of such practices;
affords some chance, and some means of turning public opinion against
bribery, and of rendering it infamous. But the thing I cannot, and
will not bear, is this : what right has this lord, or that marquis, to
buy ten seats in parliament, in the shape of boroughs, and then to
make laws to govern me ? And bow are these masses of power re-dis.
ttibuted ? The eldest son of my lord is just come from Eton—be
knows a good deal about &nem, and Dido, Apollo and Daphne, and
that is all; and to this boy his father gives a six hundredth part f the
power of making laws, as be would give him an horse, or a double
barrelled gun. Then Vellum, the steward, is put in; an admirable
man ; he has raised the estates, watched the progress of the family
road and canal bills—and Vellum shall help to rule over the people of
Israel. A neighbouringeountry gentleman, Mr. Plumpkin, bents
with my Iced, opens him a gate or two, while the hounds are running
—dines with my lord—agrees with my lord—wishes be could rival the
South Down Sheep of my lord—and upon Plumpkin is conferred a
portion of the government. Then there Is a distant relation of the
same name, in the county militia, with white teeth, who calls up the
carriage at the Opera, and is always wishing O'Connell was hanged,
drawn, and quartered—then a Waster, who has written an inter-
esting article in the Quarterly, and is very likely to. speak, and
refute IPCulloch and them eve people, in whose nomination
I have no more agency, than I have in the aeinination of the toll-
' keepers of the Uosphorus, are to make laws for me, and my family—to
put their hantls in my purse, and to sway the future destinies of this
country; and when the neighbours step in, and beg permission to say
a few words before these persons are chosen, there is an universal cry
of ruin, confusion, and destruction;—we have become a great people
under Vellum, and Plumpkin—under Vellum and Plumpkin, our
ships have covered the ocean under Vellum and Plumpkin. our armies
have secured the strength of the Hills—to turn out Vellum and Plump.
kin is not reform, but /evolution ?
Was there ever such a ministry? Was there ever before a veal
ministry of the people? Look at the condition of the country when it
was placed In their hands s the state of the house when the incoming
tenant took possession : windows broken, chitin** on fire, mobs round
the house threatening to pull It down, roof tumbling, rain pouring in.
It was coinage to weepy ht: it was a miracle to save it ; it *ill be the
glory of glories to enlarge, and expand it, and to make it the eternal
palace of wise and temperate freedom.
Proper examples have been made among the unhappy and misguided
disciples of Serrog a rope has been round O'Coonell's legs,
and a ring inserted in Cobbett's nose.:lThen the Game Laws ! Was
ever conduct so shabby as that of the two or three governments which
preceded that of Lord Grey? The cruelties and enormities of this
code had been thoroughly exposed, and a general conviction existed of
the necessity of a change. Bills were brought in by various gentlemen,
containing fame trifling alterations io this abominable code, and even
these were sacrificed to the tricks and manteuvres of some noble Nimrod
who availed himself of the emptiness of the town in July, and dung out
the bill. Govertunent never stirred a step. The &Inas of the pri-
sons, the wretchedness and demoralisation of the poor, nevet came
across them. The humane and considerate Peel never once offered to
exted his tees over them. It had nothing to do with the state of party,
and some of their double-barrelled voters might be offended. In the
mean time, for every ten pheasants which guttered in the wood, one
English peasant was rotting in gaol. No sooner it Lord Althorp
Chancellor of the Exchequer than he turns oat of the bowie a trump.
pery, and (perhaps) an insidious bill for the improvement of the Game
Laws; and in an instant,•ffere the assistance of Government fbr the
abolition of the whole code.

It is not the power of arietoaaey that will be destroyed by these
measures, but the unfair power. If the Duke of Newcastle is kind,
and obliging to his neighbours, he will probably lead his neighbours ;
if he is a man of sense be will lead them more certainly, and
to a better purpose. All this is as It should be ; but the Duke of
Newcastle, at present, by buying certain old houses, could govern his
neighbours, and legislate fur them, even If he had not five grains of un-
derstanding, and if he were the most churlish, and brutal man under
heaven. The present state of things renders unnecessary all those impor.
tent virtues, which rich and wcll.burn men, under a better stem,
would exercise for the public rood. The Duke of Newcastle Omen.
tion hint only as an instance), Lord Exeter, will do as well, but either
of those noblemen, depending not upon walls, arches, and abutments,
for their power, but upon mercy, charity, forbearance, indulgetfce, and
example—would pay this price, and lead the people by their affections;
one would be the (hod of Stamford, and the other of Neirark. This
union of the great with the many, is the real healthy state of a coun-
try ; such a country Is strong to invincibility--and this strength the
Borough system entirely destroys.
Cant words creep in and affect quarrels ; the changes are rung be-
tween revolution and reform ; but, first settle whether a wise govern.
went ought to attempt the measure--whether any thing Is wanted—whe-
ther less would do—and, neeltig settled this, mere nomenclature becomes
of very little consequence But, after all, If it is revolution, and not re-
form, it will only induce me to revive an old political toast in s two.
fold meaning and with two-fold pleasure. When King William, and
the great and glorious revolution are given, I shall think not only of
escape from bigotry, but ixeuiptioo from corruption g and shall thank
Providence, which hassled: us a second King 'William for the destruc-
tion of vice, as the other, of that name, was given us for the conserve-
ion of freedom.

All the former political changes, proposed by these very men, it is
said, were i ild snd gentle, compared to this ; true, but are you, on
Sautiday night, to seize your apothecary by the throat, and to say to
him, :tunic compounder, fraudulent posologist, did not you order me
a dranfitf this Medicine on Monday morning, and now you declare.
shot nothing short of an ounce can do me any good "' " True se
would he of the phials reply, "lost feud id not take the drama se
day mort;M:i—that trinkets all the difference, my dear Pk j tf PRI
done as 1 *debited you at first, the small gnantlty of medicine
have sullied i and Instead of being in a night-gown and slippers
stairs, you would have been walking vigorously in Piccadilly. Do
as you please—and die ii you please ; bus don't blame me because On
despised my advice, and by your own igmoastee and outlaw knee
entailed upon yourself ten-fold rhubarb, and unlimited infusion of
'emu.
There will be mistakes at first, as there are in all charism AU
yotilig 'Baia will itttagine (as soon aa thhi bill is !pried) that they will
be tootandi miwrititt School' bays belie* that
_Gunnar and &lines
'bandied, so ' - - down i•
The &Sporn!
desolind

vale sn& that obtain tarts must ultimately come ,in
price ; the > tal and strienat are sure of double pay; bad pests will
expect • & fte their 'epics: Pooh will be disappointed, as they
always are; reasonable men, who know what to expect, will And that •
very merlons good has been obtained.