been obliged to sacrifice some of its most arbitrary privileges-privileges which it ought never to have possessed; but the result would have been different, and the excesses of the revolution have been spared. Perhaps it was not in human nature to give so great an example of self-denial. But there is no analogy between England, a country where personal freedom and personal property are sacred, (which they are not in any other country in Europe, unless we except France at this moment, and not there so clearly defined as here,) and France under the old regime; the question is not between a despotism and a nobility, (to whom the peasants are serfs, taxation arbitrary, and the will of the sovereign law,) and popular freedom. There is no transition from grinding Bourbon tyranny to sudden liberty, or rather licentiousness, to be experienced here. The question does not respect any change from restraint to freedom-from oppression to liberty; it is solely the removal of an existing abuse in one of the branches of the legislature, which involves no lawful property of the nobles, no kingly prerogative, but merely puts in jeopardy a right belonging to the people, acknowledged by the constitution and by the existing laws, which has been usurped by a borough-dealing oligarchy --it is the restoration of a right that is demanded, of an abstracted property, not a sacrifice of an iota belonging to any other branch of the constitution. Away then with the nonsense of cunning alarmists, who exert themselves solely to enable the robber to retain his plunder-the political felon to keep in safety, and turn to his own profit, the property of his neighbours. Away with the ridiculous stuff, that because my Earl Doodle or Squire Noodle makes four thousand pounds a seat by this or that rotten hamlet on paying a dozen cottagers ten pounds a-piece every election, and is prevented from putting money in his pocket that way, it will bring about a revolution like the Frenchguillotines, noyades, and all the numerous evils really or erroneously ascribed to that era. We know but of one revolution a reform will produce and that is, a revolution of the money now spent in bribery and seat-selling, which will no longer enter the pocket of the Peer or rich Commoner, but be positively saved to the country from the wages of corruption.

We confess we have seen, not without deep concern, the resistance offered to changes which have had no party spirit in them, if they seemed to touch upon the principle of aristocratic privilege, though de facto not in the slightest degree injurious to the aristocracy. Let the struggle for a change in the Game Laws, those vile remnants of oppression and feudal ignorance, speak to this. In vain did moderate men, Tory as well as Whig, labour to effect some alteration of them. No, the prisons of the land overflowed with persons committed, that the aristocracy might say, "We have rights by law which distinguish us from the swinish multitude." Punishments only short of death were enacted by the subservience of Parliament, to enable them to hold fast this ridiculous and empty honour. No one wished to interfere with the sports of a country gentleman, or with his game, which is his own property as much as the produce of his estate. This was not enough however; it was the having a privilege above the people, in being allowed to be the sole possessor of a few worthless birds that kept up the old wicked laws so long. If this were not the case, why was it illegal for a private individual to breed game for

the market? Because it should continue exclusive, and only a qualified man should have it in his possession! That the people of this country should have suffered such a law to exist so long, we are convinced arose from the very ridiculous nature of the privilege, which as a privilege they laughed at; and from a shameful inattention to the mass of misery and crime it generated from that ridiculous

cause.

We are not without hopes that some of the moderate Tory Lords will see these things in their true light, and that no little jealousies will prevent them from sacrificing their antipathy to the Bill upon the altar of public security. They would, if they could bring themselves to consider the measure dispassionately and without party feeling, acknowledge that the famous "re-action" of some of their present friends is as absurd an invention as was ever foisted upon human credulity. Re-action," indeed!-Is there one man of the late majority in the Lords that believes the thing seriously? -No, not even Lord Londonderry, whose powers of credence are in the inverse ratio with those of his understanding. Has any noble Peer canvassed Bond Street since the recess, and found it there?— Has it been seen at any of the recent county meetings in favour of the Bill—at the return of Mr. Townley for Cambridge? or did Sir Charles Wetherell find it at Bristol?-Are those Political Unions→→ (which perhaps we ought not to censure so much, as they may spring from a sincere feeling of the necessity of popular combination in the support of Reform) are they symptoms of "re-action?" Every where the evidence of fact is against this last refuge—this vanished hope of distressed Toryism.

We are astonished that the cant of "Jacobinism," the slang of "revolution," and what not, is still persisted in as attaching to its supporters by those who attack the Bill. Fools made drunk can hardly utter greater nonsense. There are many among the UltraTories particularly, who are honest men, but who are so obtuse they cannot see the mutability of human affairs, that all men but “ conservative" statesmen have harped upon for hundreds of years. Is it that they will not subscribe to the laws of change which affect themselves?-Do they not see the grey hairs silvering their brows, and the wrinkles furrowing their cheeks-and do they believe that they are in the same state as forty years ago?-Can they ride and dance, and drink and sleep, as they did then?-Will the same neat pumps fit their feet, or the tight pantaloon be filled with as much rotundity of limb as ever?-Will the same quantity and quality of food do now as it did then? They will not one of them answer in the affirmative. But the body politic must, despite its more mature growth in knowledge, be dealt with as it was scores, nay hundreds, of years ago. It must be coerced, and driven, and kept down, when ignorance and superstition, the bonds which linked it to dependency and servile obedience, are mouldering away. We would give something if we could teach one of this class of men to reason on Locke's system, or, setting out with right premises, make him stumble upon a correct conclusion:--as well might a horse be taught mathematics.

What remains then for a king, a part of his nobles, and his people, in such a dilemma, pitted against ignorance and obstinacy, but to

proceed in the good work they have begun, with additional energy. There is a third party in the country silently rising into power, which may become one day more formidable to the Tory faction than the Whigs have been. This party springs more immediately from the people, and is not pledged to this or that political tenet. If we do not mistake, and we think we do not, the party to which we allude is already no contemptible one, either in talent, numbers, or perseverance. If the Whigs are defeated on the Reform Bill, and go out of office, united as they will be with this political body, the Tories will not be able to administer the affairs of the nation, for they will be outvoted on every question. Is it not therefore better policy to strengthen the present administration, than to fling the land into confusion, and render hopeless for the future their own return to power? Many who are reasonable men must see the policy of so doing. A Tory administration upon pure Tory principles can never again guide the affairs of England for any time: its reign must be momentary. Tory principles are passing away; its doctrines are exploded; they are in arrear of the spirit of modern government. The safest and best course therefore is, for the moderate men of that side the question to give in, and yield a little, to preserve thereby their own influence. We trust we shall see something of this kind take place, and we shall welcome it as patriotic and honourable.

Lord Grey thus far has not deceived the public. Parliament will meet again as early as possible after the prorogation; and there are hopes, therefore, that the pledge he has given will be redeemed to the letter. Nothing can be more false than that the supporters of the measure delight in keeping alive irritation and that ebullition of feeling, which makes the very industry of the country stand still. We are sure that the friends of reform would gladly hail a return to political peace. There are cares enough in store for the country. There are questions of mighty import to be discussed and settled which do not belong to party, but on which we hold it the greatness of the British nation depends. There are works enough for conflicting politicians to carry into effect by joint efforts, when they can heal their animosities. Already the Reform Bill and its discussions have consumed a valuable and irrecoverable space of time. A sounder and better regulated taxation, an equitable system of commerce--and, beyond all, the consideration of some mode of reducing the monstrous debt which paralyzes the energies of the nation and cripples its resources, must not be much longer delayed. The bad system of managing our colonies must be revised. The most shameful expenditure exists in them, and the laws of some of them are only fit for Russia or Turkey. When shall we see the time, or will it never dawn upon us, that men, in considering political subjects, will despise the yearnings of selfinterest, and think only of their country. It is time, now that a more enlightened period has arrived, when a war, which cost a thousand millions, would not be undertaken to restore a dethroned Bourbon, or put down freedom either by a Tory or Whig administration, that we should see whether a few millions, a mere particle to the sum so squandered in upholding foreign kingship, might not be spared to increase the comforts of the people, to set industry in motion, or

to complete works of national utility. If this cannot be done, let the public burdens be effectively grappled with. Something must be unsound in a rich nation that pays eight millions a year to support paupers; but what is there not for consideration, even jobbing? When we see for the sake of the monopoly enjoyed by owners of estates having coal-mines in the north of England, that the metropolis must not have them cheaper from the midland counties; that in the winter of a northern clime, to uphold monopoly, the poor must perish for want of cheap fuel! 1

But we will not thus digress. We have only to repeat our hope that, in the space of a week or two, the nation will have no cause to censure the present administration for not redeeming its pledges. We think that on the Reform question it has deserved support from every class of the people; whom we should be sorry to see embarrass it by any effervescence of conduct. When Englishmen fight, they are remarkable for coolness, and for deliberate, firm courage: let them exhibit the same character in their political operations. Let them never flinch from enforcing their rights by legal means. Let them see how much it is their interest to keep down the lawless and unprincipled, who will make any thing a plea to gratify their lust of crime, and who do not want stimulators among the opponents of the Bill in higher classes. Finally, let them as soon think of resigning their right to the name of Englishmen, and glory in being the descendants of the men who combated the despotism of the Stuarts, as of consenting to forego the Reform which shall be a full and satisfactory guarantee that neither noble nor commoner shall nominate their representatives; but that they shall be what the spirit of the Constitution designates them the unbought, unbribed, uninfluenced men of their constituents' free choice.

VERAX.

FILICAJA'S SONNET.

TO ITALY.

O ITALY! fair Italy! thou hast

The gift of beauty,-fatal dower indeed,
Which Heaven in token of thy grief decreed

Should on thy brow be graved.-Oh! that thou wast
Less beauteous now, with more of power, that they
Might fear thee somewhat more, or love thee less,

Who, basking in thy beams of loveliness,

Drink thy best life's-blood, as they waste away.
Then ne'er again should Alpine torrents pour
Their men of arms, as waters;-nor the Po

Be quaff'd by Gallic hordes, distain'd with gore ;—
Nor should I see for thy defence, as now,
A stranger's weapon ever wielded ;-nor
Thee still the slave either of friend or foe!

F. M.

Only 50,000 tons of coal may be brought into London from the midland coal districts. The plea is, to encourage the colliers by sea: the truth is, that too many legislators are coal-owners. What can be more monstrously absurd and injurious than this blight on home intercourse!

OF OUR PRESENT STATE AND FUTURE PROSPECTS ON THE CHOLERA QUESTION.'

THERE has recently appeared in this Journal a map from the best authority, delineating the march of the Indian cholera to the north of Europe; and we have now evidence of the existence of the disease near, if not upon, our own shores.

Some persons affect to despise and be tired of the subject of cholera; but, as Johnson said of ghosts, "those who deny their belief in them confess it by their fears.” There can be no doubt that the dread of cholera is great; and, however foolish it may be to suffer this dread to have any influence, it is equally so to disregard the subject altogether. By keeping alive the public attention to the existence of the disease, we have the best security for its annihilation. Had similar attention been paid to the advances of the plague and the small-pox, when these diseases hovered first over our heads, the one might not have created so much domestic misery, and the other would not have become a permanent addition to the catalogue of human diseases.

When we contemplate the introduction of great general diseases peculiar to the human frame, and carefully trace the influence of human ingenuity in repelling, destroying, or modifying them; the mind naturally turns to the consideration of how far the present new disease of the continent, if it be imported, is likely to take root among us,-how far it is likely to devastate Great Britain, -and whether it may be a transient (like the plague) or a permanent disease, like the small-pox, and some other differently modified but undoubted contagions. The question is not idle and speculative, but one of the first importance; for we have reason to believe that

1 We deem it lamentable that the public have been alarmed with the existence of cholera in Sunderland, before they are put out of doubt as to the character of the disease. This decision is the more necessary, as we have no proof that the real cholera is in this country, even at this the "eleventh hour," according to some. Then, again, Sunderland vessels are put under quarantine, while the town on the land side is open. How consistent! The real truth is, that if the disease be really in England, it cannot be stopped by such regulations as have been adopted. In England, we are convinced that good living, temperance, cleanliness, and attention to the first symptoms, are the best modes of staying its career. A regiment of whitewashers and scavengers will do more to stop it than cordons or quarantine laws. The mortality in Prussia and in Hamburgh has been very small compared to the population; not so great as the ravage of the typhus in Dublin in one season, which we usually pass unnoticed. The ignorance and prejudices of the lower orders will increase the mortality among them, in addition to want, bad diet, and intemperance. So little is cholera to be feared with moderate precautions, that, even in India, families kept the simple specifics always ready to be applied, and Europeans administered them personally to their servants, or to natives living near them, without fear. The charitably disposed by this means lessened the mortality in the country where the disease put on its worst type. The Quarterly Review has had a most ridiculous article on the subject of cholera, (written by some sage college doctor, we suspect, who wanted to increase his patients by exciting needless alarm,) absurd in its statements and recommendations, and likely to propagate that fear which is one of the great aids of the disorder. Courage, generous but temperate living, and very timely application in case of attack, are the best modes of setting the fear of the complaint at defiance among those who live in cleanly streets and habitations. Credulity and fear are too rife. A poor tailor dropped down in the street, a few days ago, with a bowel attack common enough in England, and rumour gave him cholera, which the newspapers might as well have refrained from echoing; for the ignorant and timid will not believe their statement of the real fact, but the opposite, because credulity thrives under alarm,