Star.
London, England, 1829-09-25 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

Na HI.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

Renumber always what a great man said in Parliament, that
' They who bought their seals in dig House,saust sell their sages there.' "
—Exammita. Ott. 5, 1710.

SIR-I have laboured, if not with success, at least with
real and with candour, to chew how far the evil of misre-
presentation, and the necessity of Reform, have origi-
nated with, and been chargeable upon, THE PEO PT. E.—
Let me now, with the same regard for their welfare, and
with the same uncompromising sincerity, urge them to
adopt such means as alone are calculated to abate, if they
cannot abolish, every abuse, and redress every grievance.

That Reroam, thorough radical and Constitutional Re-
form is necessary, no man in his senses can deny. But
as corruption had its source in the people, so must the
work of purification commence with the People :
and until they begin that work by reforming them-
spires, they never must hope to achieve such a Re-
form as can be just, beneficial, or permanent. Till
men learn to estimate, as they ought, the awful re-
sponsibility of the situation in which they stand, as the
depositories of the most sacred trust—as the gua►dians
of a patrimony to the maintenance whereof their alle-
giance is not only pledged—but their existence, their
personal safety, their characters when living, and their
fame when dead, alike involved in the discharge of their
solemn duties : till they resolve firmly and conscientiously
to exercise the powers vested in them, and to shrink with
abhorrence from the prostitution of their most glorious
privileges, corruption can never be checked in its de-
structive course ; but must for ever taint the stream of
freedom. REFORM, to be effectual, must be gradual,
and must be general: not precipitated with that wild and
fatal fury which would dismember the State, and dash
the rery form of Government to pieces : nor confined to
one set of men, or one system of measures ; but felt and
adopted throughout the kingdom. Let it be instantaneous
and partial, and it must prove more ruinous than the
worst evil it could possibly seek to avert. That the
affairs of the country cannot go on as they now are,
seems admitted by all parties ; amendment must come,
or we must prepare for a more fearful alternative.—
However insensible the people may have been to their
own interests, and to their own integrity—yet the com-
plaints now wrung from them by the continued infliction
of miseries which have at length become too painful for
silent endurance, cannot long be resisted. But the resto-
ration of their rights can only be effected by the tem-
perate and constitutional means which they inherently
possessed, and which no earthly power could have alien-
ated, had they been true to themselves. " While the
constituent body retains its sound and healthful state,
every thing will be safe. They will choose competent
and faithful Representatives for every department. It
is only when the people become ignorant and corrupt,
that they become the willing instruments of their own
debasement and ruin." Such was the language of
MuN aol, previous to his inauguration as PRESIDENT
of the UNITED STATES, in 1817—and the blood boils
indignantly in every vein, at the reproach which this
stern truism casts upon the present condition of the
enlightened and civilized CONSTITUENCY of ENG-
LAND. The influence of a Minister never could prevail
over the independence of the people, did they not wil-
fully sacrifice that independence—did they not, like un-
principled hirelings, barter away their dearest privileges,
and sell their birth-right " for a mess of pottage."
Painful as it may be, to relinquish long-cherished as-
sociates,—and to forego the popular distinctions which
were endeared by public virtue ;—yet in the present

crisis, it behoves the people to place their chief reliance
upon their own energies ; and no longer to confide in the
liberal protestations of a party which retains nothing of
patriotism but the name, and nothing of its original prin-
ciple but the profession :—a party defeated in every
struggle, not by the moral power of its opponents—but
by its own inefficiency and disorganization ; not from the
want of popular support, but of integrity in its leaders :
—a party which, with " LIEERTY " inscribed on its ban-
ners, and with •` REFORM" as its watchword, has never
made one vigorous exertion to protect the one, or to pro-
mote the other ; but has tamely witnessed the devas-
tating progress of corruption, and surrendered even the
strong-holds of Constitutional freedom at the bidding of
an arbitrary Minister.— Do I make a charge which I
am not prepared to substantiate ?—What was the con-
duct of the modern " Man of the People ?"—what
was the conduct of " Westminster's pride and Eng-
land's glory ?"—what was the conduct of " the spirited

and constitutional Assertor of the People's rights ?"
what was the conduct of Sir FRANCIS BURDETT when
the notorious bribery and corruption of the borough of
Pearhyn was brought before the House of Commons ?
Did that professed REFORMER stand forward in his place
as a representative of the people—as the champion of
their independence—to denounce the flagrancy of the
crime, and to demand its signal punishment ?—Did he
assail the Hydra when her den was discovered ?—Did he,
armed in the panoply of constitutional liberty, hurl the
bolt of offended patriotism at the many-headed monster ?
Sir, he was worse than a merely passive spectator of the
delinquencies then brought to light,—he was only not
the advocate of the venality and abuse by which the Con-
stitution had been assailed; he did not blush to be their
apologist ; he even endeavoured to palliate the enormity
.of such offences by the frequency of their commission !
" Where"—said the indignant Champion of Reform—
" where is the justice of making this example, when it is

as notorious as the sun at noonday, that the system per-
vades the whole representation ?" —Such was the lan-
guage or Sir FRANCIS BURDETT 011 all occasion BO
vitally important to the interest of the people of England.
—What the conduct of even his most influential col-

leagues has been, their duped adherents may be best
informed by referring to a" MEMORANDUM CONCERN-
ING THE WHIGS," which should be read by every man
who has hitherto placed any reliance upon the professions