Star.
London, England, 1829-09-14 00:00:00

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

Carom), Sire. I I.—The Rev. R. Heptinstall, B.A. of fleeter
College. has been licensed by the Bishop of Chester to the perpe-
tual Curacks of Capestborne and Siddingtoa, vacant by the resig-
nation of the Rev. W. Davenport, Bromley.
Monday the Rev. Win. Nettleship, B. A. was licensed by the
Bishop of Worcester to the Lectureship founded in the parish
church of St. Andrew, Droitwitch, void by the resignation of the
Rev. George Durant, M.A.

• -
The Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry has appointe4 the Rev.
Wm. Marsh, Rector of St. Peter's, Colchester, to be Minister of
St. Thomas's Church, at Holloway Head, Birmingham. The Rec-
tor of St. Martin's, in whose gift it was, relinquished it into the
hands of his Lordship.
The Rev. C. Burton, to the Vicarage of Wickbambrook, Suf-
folk, void by the death of the Rev. T. Seabrook.

The Duke of WELLINGTON arrived in town on Satur-
day from Northamptonshire; his Grace, in company with
the Earl of ABERDEEN, was occupied for a consider-
able time at the Foreign-office with the French Chargy
d'Affaires, and also with the Austrian Ambassador.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer visited his Grace in
the afternoon. The Duke left town yesterday morning
for Doncaster, to attend the races.
The Duke of CUMBERLAND arrived in town on Fri-
day night from a visit to his MAJESTY, at the Royal
LOdge in Windsor Park. The Duke and Duchess of
CUMBERLAND, accompanied by Prince GEORGE, dined
with the Prince and Princess ESTERHAZY ou
Saturday, at their residence, Chandos House. Their
Royal Highnesses attended divine service yesterdaymorn-
ing in St. James's Church. The service was performed
by the Rev. Mr. WIGRAM.
The Earl of RADNOR arrived in town on Saturday,
from his seat, Wiltshire. _ _

The Earl of ABERDEEN left town on Friday, for the
seat of Earl COWPER, Pansanger, Herts, where Prince
LIEV EN and other distinguished persons are staying on
a shooting party.
The Bishop of LINCOLN will hold an Ordination on
Sunday next at Buckden.
The Marquis of HERTFORD is on his annual visit at
Sudbourn Hall, in Suffolk, where, as usual during the
early part of the shooting season, his hospitable house is
full. Lord LOWTHER, Colonel COOKE, and Mr. Cuoata
are amongst the guests. His Lordship resided at Naples
and in that neighbourhood last year. Rome, however,
is at present the intended limit of the Marquis's journey.
provided a palace sufficiently large and convenient for the
accommodation of his numerous suite can be hired.

The health of the Marquis Of CLEVELAND his ;Meived
considerable improvement from the waters of Aix-la-
Chapelle, where, accomptnied by the Marchionem, be
has been staying for some time. They arrived in Lon-
don a few days ago, preparatory to their visit to Don-
caster Races.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

No. I.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

" ... Remember, always, what a great man said in Parlia-
ment, ' That they who bought their seats in the House, must sell their
votes there.' "—Miasmas, Oa. 5, 1810.

SlR—The sterling independence of principle which
you have manifested in asserting the great cause of Par-
liamentary Reform, entitles you to the gratitude of every
lover of his country, and to the cordial co-operation and
support of every man who can justly appreciate the de-
votion of individual talent to the public good ; who values
the noblest institutions of a free people ; or who truly
desires to perpetuate the blessings of our civil rights.
Actuated by such feelings, I desire to range myself
under the banners of a leader whose integrity I believe
to he above suspicion, and whose zeal in the service of
his countrymen claims my respect. However, "as one
of the million," I may be " conscious of my insigni-
ficance," yet I have been eloquently taught that " in
times like these, the moment an individual stands
politically forward, he becomes of comparative import-
ance ;"—and if a firm determination to hold up to the
people of England—unsullied by the breath of corrup-
tion—untainted by the contaminating air of party pre-
judice—the clear and undefiled mirror of truth—in
whose reflections they may behold the original, but un-
conscious, source of every evil ; if to dare by assertion,
and by proof, to lay bare the malady that has so long
infected the heart's core of the Constitution and of the
State ; if these things may entitle me to attentive consi-
deration, I cannot fear of being " heard for my cause ;"
and humble as my voice may be, it shall acquire weight
when I declare that, as the birth-right of a free man in
a free State, I inherit the privilege of giving expression
to my thoughts and feelings, whenever the condition of
my country is assailed.

There is a pride in the love of country, paramount to
every consideration in the breast of the true citizen,
which cannot be disturbed by the breath of the revolu-
tionary agitator, or the malignant anathema of the mock-
patriot. And where, let me ask,—where, on the face of
the fair and habitable globe, is that country to be found
possessed of more natural and acquired claims to the love
of its inhabitants and the admiration even of its enemies--
than the land in which we live? TheNeye of man hath
not beheld—the mind of man bath not conceived a more
glorious object of love and admiration, than the British
Constitution. If it be impaired, let us not dishonor the
memory of our ancestors by arraigning the imperfection
of the bases upon which they reared the glorious super-
structure : it was given to us as a tower upon a rock, de-
fensible without—impenetrable to the assaults of the
enemy—and only vulnerable through corruption within.
The power that bestows sovereignty upon a King, must
in its origin be sovereign : but in its delegation of su-
preme authority, it consigns, for its own use, that sove-
reignty to the monarch of its choice. That Constitution
which acknowledged, and had for its fundamental prin-
ciple the combined authority, sway, and influence of
King, Lords, and Commons—forming a triangular bul-
wark which no external force could violate ; that Consti-
tution which, in its purity and its splendour, was handed
down to us by our forefathers;--Wu are PLEDGED to
transmit, as we receive it, pure, unsullied, and in undi-
minished strength, to our posterity. Whatever dilapi-
dations may accrue during our possession of the estate,
we are bound to make good for our heirs ; and though for
a season, we may ourselves sink into dangerous lethargy,
yet we must, at last, rouse from our sloth, and repair the
ruins occasioned by our neglect.
I have said, that " the power which bestows sove-
reignty on a King, must in its origin be sovereign;" but
from the moment when that investiture takes place, the
absolute exercise of its prerogative devolves upon the
monarch, and cannot be resumed at will. The privilege
of restriction may in a certain degree be preserved ; but
the authority remains no longer with its original pos-
sessors. The right of remonstrance is still indeed re-
tained ; but the arbitrary correction of imaginary abuse—
the power of dictating to the Supreme Head of the Con-
stitution—or of presenting the forms, or controlling the
Administration of the Government, is transferred by the
people to the Representatives, who are individually chosen
by a part, to enact laws for the whole ; and the sole re-
dress of political grievances rests between the constituent
and the delegate.

It is a severe reflection upon the literary charac-
ter of our country, that one of the ablest and most
comprehensive Commentaries ever published upon
the nature and form of our Constitution, was the work
of a foreigner—DE LOLME : and, on this particular part
of the question, his statement of the fact is most perspi-
cuous As the vicissitudes of human affairs may, in
process of time, realize events which at first had appeared
most improbable, it might happen that the Ministers of
the executive power, notwithstanding the interest they
themselves have in the preservation of public liberty, and
in spite of the precautions expressly taken to prevent the
effect of their influence, should, at length, employ such
efficacious means of corruption, as might bring about a
surrender of some of the laws upon which this public
liberty is founded ; and though we should suppose that
such a danger would really be chimerical, it might at
least happen, that, conniving at a vicious Administration,
and being over liberal of the produce of the labours of
the people, the Representatives of the People might make
them suffer many of the evils which attend worse forms
of Government. It was therefore nerafiary that the
Constitution should furnish a remedy : now, it is in the
right of electing Members of Parliament that this re-
needy lies. When the time is come, at which the Com-
mission which the People had given to their delegMee
expires, they have it in their power to elect again those
of their Representatives whose former conduct they ap-
prove, and to reject those who have contributed to give
rise to their complaints. A simple remedy this, which
only requires in its application, a knowledge of matters
of fact,„ is entirely within the reach of the people ; bat

remedy, at the same time, the most effectual that could
be applied ; for as the evils complained of arise merely
from the peculiar disposition of a certain number of indi-
viduals—to set aside those individuals is to pluck up the
evil by the roots."

The fanaticism to which, of late years, too many of
our fellow-subjects were goaded on the subject of Re-
form, required, at that period, no ordinary intrepidity of
mind to cope with : for then, indeed, their efforts to ob-
tain redress were disgraced by the association of some of
the most dangerous, if they had not also been the Most
despicable, beings in society ; and popular feeling was
excited beyond all bounds of discretion by the insidious
arts of mob-orators—factious demagogues—and republi-
can spirits, who would have triumphed over the ruin of
the great work of ages. But, happily for England, the
natural intelligence and the habitual loyalty of the people
resumed their ascendancy—they burst tile spell of the
bewildering delusion—and, true to themselves, they re-
jected and disclaimed the intemperate and seditious insti-
gations of those " bold bad men" who prostituted the sa-
cred rights of patriotism to the advancement of their own
base purposes—and threatened our country with the
worst of all national calamities. He must be a hardy
politician, or a wily statesman, who would deny the
existence of abuses—or question the justice of popular
complaint, in the abstract : but such admissions are not
sufficient. I would go still farther : I would point out the
very spring of that corruption which was but the natural
consequence of a tainted source. When the people are
false to their own trusts, they involve a treble crime in their
apostacy from the love of constitutional freedom—they
degrade the memory of their ancestors—wilfully devote
themselves to slavery—and are traitors to their posterity.
How then can they complain of venality or corruption,
if it can be shewn that they have courted the one, and
pampered the other ? Having admitted the existence of
abuses, it would be monstrous to deny the necessity of
Reform ; but in labouring to achieve an absolute good, I
must also protest against the exercise of means which
can only effect a positive evil. Reform acquired by the
violence of party-spirit, cannot be salutary—cannot be
permanent. The influence of the pure and noble spirit
of Liberty is incompatible with turbulence. It thrives
and prospers only in the unclouded sunshine of that
patriotism which is "but the expansion of domestic
sympathy, rendered permanent by principle." Our an-
cestors laboured under appalling difficulties in bringing so
closely to perfection that Constitution which they ren-
dered the admiration and the envy of the world : they
had but the faint gleams of theory to guide them through
a trackless desert; but they entailed upon us the light
of their experience ; and if we fail to emulate their spirit
of national enthusiasm and honour, let us at least leave
to our successors some testimonial of what THEY were,
and what WE might have been. They had to esta-
blish their rights, and to set bounds oven to their
own power : let us maintain both ; but let us labour
peaceably—with temper, with firmness, and with a
rational remembrance of what we owe to our characters
as citizens of a free State, and as heirs of the most
glorious Constitution ever enjoyed by men.
London, Sept. 10, 1829. VERAX.