Star.
London, England, 1830-12-23 00:00:00

REFORM

TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

St a,—Anxions to ascertain what were the sentiments of,
the public, on this important subject, and fully impressed by
leading your papers, and the last number of the Westminster
Ilcriew, that man, e omen, and child, were all thinking of no-
nntbingelsrthanthe 'Jolla , 1 took it into my head to walk forth
yesterday morning ; and by asking the opinions of those I
should accidentally meet, endeavour, if I could, to form an
estimate of the rex pop. li on this subject; and the result
of my enquiries, I shall now communicate to you.
The first person I met, at the door of the house in which
I occupy apartment., as I was rthont to turn out. was Mr.
Play fair, the comedi•in ; and after the usual salutations, I
opened my enquiry, by saying—.. Well, Mr. Playfair,
you've no doubt heard of the great change which has taken
place ; and that what has been so long expected, will be
absnlotely brought out after Christmas : pray, what do you
think upon the subject ?"—" Think !" said he, " why, that
it will never do —it will never please : the public expect more
than the manager can give !"—" What l"—said I—" you
think, then, that the representation will not be adequately
corrected."—" Undoubtedly not ; there is too much favouri-
tism," said he.—" Whnt ? you think, then, that a reform will
not do ?"—" I don't know what you mean by Reform: no
doubt, the piece may he recast, and acted over again ; but it
will never do, and it will again be damned, as it was be-
fore !" 1, at once, perceived, we had stumbled upon an
equivoque ; and as I saw his head was full of his own busi-
nees—as it should be—and not full of the corruption of
Parliament, I bade him good morning, and proceeded in
my researches.
The next acquaintance who caught my eye, as I went
peripatetically pondering along Fleet-street, was Mr. Lilly-
crop, the stationer, a steady family-man of about fifty, and
one of that class of the community who are sneeringly
designated Saints by the Sinners, among mankind. Mr.
Lillycrop divides his whole time between two objects—his .
warehouse and his meeting-house ; or what, in old times,
would have been called his conventicle. His close attention!
to the former, as well as to the latter, makes him be considered
by his censorious neighbours what is called by some wag—
either G. A. Stevens, or Rowland Hill—a squinting'
Christian ; who, while one eye is placed on Heaven, keeps
this nether world constantly within the ken of the other.
Now, thought 1, I shall obtain a solid, candid opinion.—
Having shaken him by the hand, and got through the
standing English formula for greetings in the market-place—
including bad weather, bad colds, and bad times-1 went
direct to my point, and said, " Pray, Mr. Lillycrop, what
do you think of our new Minister ?" " Why, Sir," said
be," I lament to say (looking moat gravely), I lament to
say, I do not like him ; —he will never do with our people."
" What, Mr. Lillycrop, do you not approve of reform ? "
" Reform ! " rejoined he ; " Yes, I approve of reform, but
not such reform as he would give us. It is the filthy rags
of morality that he would have us trust to, instead of the
sacred garb of the Gospel." I had heard quite enough-
-1 saw I was again mistaken ; and that Mr.Lillycrop, like my
friend Playfair, had other matter? in his mind than reform
in Parliament, and so I thanked him for hie opinion,
and took my leave.
I met no me ales that I could address on the subject, us-
til I came to St. Paul's Churchyard, when I luckily cut
my eye on my friend, Flowerdew, who, I saw, was in
mourning, and whom I lately heard, had come in to a good
thing —as it is called—by the death of a distant relative. I
observed my friend to be in what is called a brown study ;
that is to say, looking rather black, or, as some will have
it, looking blue. lam sure I shall now have, thought I,
a discerning opinion on the subject, for I see he is studying
it—nothing but the deplorable state of the representation
could make him look so grave. " Well, my old friend
Flowerdew," said I, accosting him, " what can make you
so serious to-day—you, who have lately preyed one of for-
tune's favourites; are you afflicted with the disastrous times
—are you sighing over our grievances I" " Indeed I am,"
said he, " and have good reason—the Commons is a per-
fect den of corruption, perjury, and all kinds of iniquity."
0 ! 0 ! thought I to myself, nu right at last; I'll stick to
Flowerdew, and I shall get at least a clear account of his
view on this vital subject. " I presume, then, Mr. Flower-
dew," continued I, " that you are favourable to reform."
" Reform I " said he, " nothing else but a radical change—
s perfect revolutionising of the whole system—will do any
good. Do you know, my friend, that I have no less than
six actions going on in this horrible Court against me, as
executor to my Uncle's will ; and until they are all finished,
Usha'nt be able to touch a penny of the old Gentleman's
money." Alas ! alas ! I now saw he, too, had another
subject in his head, than the vital one of the Rotunda.
I then bent my course homewards again ; and recollecting
that I wanted to order a new coat, I turned into Chancery-
lane, and called on Mr.Staytape, my tailor. His wife, a
steady, middle-aged woman, offered a chair ; and while I
waited until" the man of shreds and patches" should de-
scend from his attic retreat, I happened to say to the good
woman, " These are bad times, they say, Mrs. Staytape ;
how does your husband go on 2—does he ever trouble him-
self about reform?" " I wish he did, Sir ;" said she, with
a sigh ; " he has much reason; but he is, Sir, I am sorry
to say, too much an enemy of reform ; he won't let me have
a vote, or all would go right." I was not quite convinced
that this extension of the elective franchise was necessary ;
but, in these intellect galloping days, I knew not what
might be advanced in its favour; and so 1 continued the in-
quiry; and with a philosophical curiosity, I put the modest
qnestion," What led her to claim the right of voting, with so
much pertinacity ? "—to which she readily responded, by
saying, that her husband would ruin his family by trusting
every body, and giving such long credit; and, if he did not re-
form his habits, he would lodge his family in the workhouse.
This was rather an uncomfortable turn to the conversation,
and I must say tormented my investigation about reform, in
that quarter. 1 could not but recollect my last Christmas bill
was still unpaid ; I therefore enquired no farther, and as I
felt the world had all other reforms to think about, than that
of Parliament, I thought I might find some other reform to
think about too,and so resolved from that day,to look at horn*
and reform myself Perhaps, Mr. Editor, you, and some
of your Readers might, with advantage, do the same. H.

The interior of Hamilton Palace, when completed, will
exhibit a greater variety of magnificent finishing& than is
/whops to be met with in any other mansion. ♦ vessel
bus arrived at Glasgow from Broadford in Skye, with ab,stit
70 tons of Hebridean marble of very fine quality, which is
to be used in paving the entrance, stalls, and lobbies.
The Albion, Lowton, muter, from Newfoundland, arrived
at Teignmouth on the 12th inst. On the let in lat. 50.
long. 20. she fell in with the Union, of London, from Pic-
ton, with timber, bound to Dublin, water-logged, and signals,
Mulish-see dying ; took out the muter and 16 men belong-
ing to her, and a master and two men, late of the Kinnersly
Castle. towed into Picton, water-logged, on the 15th Oat.
last. Great pre* is due to Capt. Lowtoa for his exertions
in rescuing the mews from a watery grave. and his great,
kindness and humanity to diem during the time they were
oa board his vessel.