Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), Saturday 17 March 1832, page 4


THE " BILL. "

The excitement in the City exceeds ony thing we have ever before witnessed. Requisîtions are being signed by all the various public bodies for immediate Meetings-by the Livery-by tho Merchants and bankers-by the inhabitants of wards and parishes ; and it is understood that a Meeting will be herd for the purpose of forming a ^National Association,1 to which the whole country will be invited to send Delegates for the support of Ministers in carrying through the Reform-Bill. This proposition is supported by advices just re-ceived from Sussex, and other parts of the country, that thejieople are ready to de their duty to their fellow-countrymen-fo act with them in any course that may be generally agreed upon-to sustain the obaracter of the'nation before the world-and that to do thiä, they only1 wait to know what measure may be generally resolved upon, when they will support it devotedly.-Examiner.

The country will not be satisfied unless

every servant of Government or the Court, who voted against the Bill, is dismissed« Should Lord Hill be entrusted in the command of the army for

one hour 1

It is reported that a Court of Inquiry is holding, on the circumstance of thirty-two non-commissioned Officers of the Guards having signed

.a petition for Reform. Tin's was told to the writer I .yosterdav from a source that left no doubt in his

mind ol' its hoing correct in tho principal facts. | Another version of the some report to day is, that forty-nine non-commissioned Officers signed a state-ment, that from their knowledge, the men would

not bo to be dopended on if called upon to *nct I againßt tho people. The two reports oro confir- ' tnotory of the existence of something interesting ; and the first ia the most likely to be correct. There were strange rumours afloat on Saturday about tho

state of the foofguards. It was even alleged that | a Court ^of Inquiiy was sitting on nine men, and thirty non-commissioned Officers, for signing a petition for Reform. All these reports were un-founded. Tho troops in question have made no

demonstration of disobedienco-to the strict laws of | military discipline, although from mixing more with the people, than other soldiers aro wont to do, they may, perhaps, be supposed to entertain sentiments in unison with those which they commonly hear expresod.-Com t Journal.

The most remarkable circumstance of | the debate was the wide discrepancy, as regards I both manner and tendency, of the speeches of the Premier end the Chancellor. Lord Grey was des-ponding, and even doleful, in tone and diction; Lord . Brougham sanguine, alert and facolious. Lord Grey clung to his Bill and his office with " a desperate- fidelity," to borrow old Mr. Graltoh's effected cant. Tho Chancellor's speech was a strong speech against tho Bill, though a reform speech ; and, with regard to office, he showed the easy seat of a confident and skilful rider, who fears, and seems to fear, no fall. The following fact, which we must tell briefly, may perhaps explain this dif-ference :-Lord Brougham, it is known, has lately been much with the King-Earl Grey not so fre-quently"; on Wednesday last, bowever, the latter nobleman sought and obtained an audience of his Majesty, when he announced that without a con-siderable accession to the Peerage, " the Bill" would bo lost, " Have you/' said the King, ." consulted your colleagues upon this point 1 ' " Your Majostv cannot suppose," replied Earl Grey, " that I could think of doing so until 1 had first obtained your royal permission." " Very well," was the King's concluding observation : " very well," you have my peimission to consult the Cabinet upon the point ; but if I am not mistaken you will find a difference of opinion there.

Observer.

i The members of the Slock Exchange

.wera on Saturday prepared for the rejection of the Bill ; and the correctness of their information is proved by the fact, that it was then stated that it wotlld be lost by a majority of forty. It bos been so generally understood that Ministers will remain

in office, and that the rejection of the Bill, by tho ! Lords, is not to be considered decisive of its fate, and many, consequently, have deemed it premature

to discuss the ulterior measures which should bo

adopted by the people. But it was scarcely possible not to have the ultimate loss of the Bill, and to avoid the consideration of the consequences. We have taken some pains to obtain information as to the indications of the state of the public mind in the metropolis, and the country, on the presot crisis. The following ore n few of the facts which have come'to our knowledge':

. It is- known in the City that considerable pur-chases have recently been made of American stock.

There is reason also to believo that some have provided themselves with sums of gold, and pioperty easily available in emergencies; but great caution is used not to oréate any alarm, and the purposes are seldom avowed.

At the clubs, and other places of j

meeting of the trading classes in the metropolis,' various plans for the formation of a national guard, have been the subject of discussion.

We have been informed that in several districts of the metropolis the tax-gatherers have been informed by the inhabitants on whom they have called, that the taxes which they have recently collected would be the last they would have to receive, unless the Reform Bill was carried. The districts to which we allude are not those in which a determination has been evinced, with reference to the taxes called rates imposed by self-elected bodies, to act upon the constitutional principles that tax-ation without representaton is illegal; namely Mary-le-bone, St. Pancras, and Islington parishes. We may mention as an instance of the quiet mode

in which these determinations will be carried into effect, that the inhabitants of St. Martin's parish, without calling any public meeting, or making any outward demonstration, have refused to pay their last poor-rates. The amount which it was expected to produce is, perhaps, £2,000; and of this amount probably not more than £100 has been collected, and that it is believed has been paid by those who had not been consulted, and who knew nothing of the determination of other inhabitants to refuse payment.

(From Cobbett'f Register.)

The Lords do not know that the country is absolutely convulsed with its distress. They imagine that the club-houses are a specimen of the state of the country. My belief is, that a great deal more than one-half of tlie farmers and tradesmen are totally careless about all matters relative lo the preservation of property. I believe that such is j their state, that they hardly hope to be able to recover j themselves by the operation of the ordinary and

peaceable course of things, even if all the taxes were repealed. So that their Lordships are quite deceived if they thiuk that even men of property will bo frightened at the sound of the revolution. Baring was reported to have said, at the opening of the Parliament in October last, or soon afterwards, that the people were as well off as they ever were,

and thut all the disturbances and all the projects of ¡ | change were produced by the then recent French

Revolution; so says the Duke of Wellington still.

I have related above, that, in a great proportion of the English counties, men of property, men of sense, proposed, long before that French Revolution, to resort to a refusal of the payment of taxes; and that they only were prevailed upon in order to try the Parliament once more for a reform. The Duke of Wellington was driven out of office solely because he expressed his determnation to grant no reform whatsoever. In other respects, he was rather popular than otherwise; but that declaration ruined him. It is notorious that Lord Grey came in in order to quiet the people by promising them a Par-

liamentary reform; is it, then, to be supposed that those who opposed this reform, having a great majority in the House of Commons elected under

the old system even ; is it to bo supposed that they i could now como into power and govern the countiy ' inpeucel Lord Grey has distinctly declared that | he will not remain in power a single day longer than

he has a fair prospect ef speedily carrying this , measure ; this is a most important declaration. The oountry understand the value of it ; and, then, who is to succeed him 1 Who is to carry on the Government in opposition to him 1 Why, when

he came into power, it was as nearly anarohy as ! possible ; the Prime Minister could neither walk or ride in the streets without insult; there were fights in the streets, the people against the police, one attacking and the other defending him. It was im-possible for that to go on without a dreadful con-

vulsion ; without something or other thnt must have ] speedily brought order and law to an end. What, then, should we have to expect now 1 To describe the state of things that would arise if Lord Grey were to be driven out, and Wellington put in his place, is a task that I shall not undertake, and that for more tessons than one ; but one is quite suf-ficient ; and that is, that I have not the power to

describe it.

CONJUGATING A VERB.

?

Dick Orrod and his brother Giles were fine specimens of the bumpkin boys of the West of England : their father, who was a flourishing farmer, sent them to pick up a little learning at an expensive academy in a large town about twenty miles from the village where he lived. The master bad but re-cently purchased the school from his predecessor ; and, stranger ns he was to the dialect of that port of the country, ho cnuld scarcely understand above one-half of what Pick and Giles Orrod, and a few more of his pupils-, meant when they spoke. " I ! hnowed, I tinned, and I hut," were barbarisms, to

which his ear had never been occustoined ; and it | wa» oi ly by degree» he discovered that they were j

translations into Uio ruial tongue of ' I .know, I ran, lind I hit.' But thero weie few so rude of speech

as Dick and Giles Oirod.

Fmternnl affection was a virtue that did not flou-rish in tho bosoms of oilhorof these young gontlonien. Dick's greatest onemy on earth was Giles ; and if honest Giles hated any human being except tho master, it was Dick. They were excellent spies on each other's conduct ; Giles never missod an opportuuity of procuring Dick a coat ¡gat ion ; and Dick was equally active in making the master ac-quainted with every punishable peccadillo that his

brother committed.

Ono day an accusation was preferred against Mus-ter Richard hy one of tho monitors, of having cut down a small tiee in tho ehrubbory ; but thero wus not sufficient evidence to b'ring the offence homo to the supposed culprit.

" Does ni young gentleman happon to know any thing moro of this matter 1" inquired the.master.

Gilos immediately1 walked from his soot, and, tak-ing a place by the side of his brother, looking as though he bad something relevant to communicate.

" Well, sir ;" said the master, " what do you

know abou-. the trcet"

" If you ploze, sir," growled Giles, " if you plaze, sir, I sawed un."

" Oh I you* sawed un,' did youl" | " Isa, I did :-Dick seed I sow un." " Is this true, master Richard ?"

" Iss," said Dick ; and Giles, much to his asto-nishment, waa immediately floggod.

At the termination of tho ceremony, it occurred to tho master to ask Giles how he had obtained the

saw. " About your saw, young gentleman;" said he, " here, do you get a saw when you want one!"

Giles had some faint notions of grammar floating' in his brain, and thinking that the master meant the verb, and not the substantive, blubbered out" From see." .,?

" Sea!-So you go on board the vessels in the dock, do you, out of school hours, and expend your pocket money in purchasing implements to cut down

my shrubbery ?"

" Noa, sir," said Giles ; " I doant goa aboard no ships, nor cut down noa shrubberies."

" What, sirrah ! did you not confess it 1"

" Noa, sir; I said I sawed brother Dick cut down the tree, and he seed I sawed uo and a' couldn't deny it."

" 1 didn't deny it," said Dick.

" Then, possibly you are the real delinquent, after all, Master Richard," exolaimed the master.

Dick confessed that he was, but ho hoped the master would not beat bim, after having flogged his brother for the samo offence ; in his way, he hum-bly submitted that one punishment, no matter who received it, but especially ns it had been bestowed on ono of the same family as the delinquent, was, to all intents and purposes, enough for one crime.

The master, however, did not coincide with Dick on this grave point, and the young gentleman was duly horsed.

" As for Master Giles," said the master, as he laid down the birch, " he well merited a flogging for his astonishing-his wilful stupidity. If boys positively will not profit by my instructions, I am bound, in duty to their parents, to try the effect of castigation. No man grieves more sincerely than I do, at the necessity which exists for using the birch and cane, as instruments of liberal education ; and yet, unfortunately, no man, I verily believe, is compelled to use them more frequently than myself. I was occupied for full half an hour, in drumming this identical verb into Giles Orrod, only yesterday morning: and you, sir, added ho, turning to Dick, " you, 1 suppose, aro quite as great a blockhead as your brother. Now attend to me, both of you ;what's the past of see?

Neither of the young gentlemen replied.

" I thought as much!" quoth the master. " The perfect of see is the present of sato-See, saw."

" See, saw," shouted the boys ; but that unfortu-nate verb was the stumbling block to their advance-ment, they never could compiehand how the perfect of see, could be the present of saw ; and days, weeks, months,-nay, years after, they were still at their endless, and, to them, incomprehensible game of

see, sa»v.