TOPICS OF 'L'HI. DAY.
KING STEPHEN AND KING WILLIAM.
"THE Coercion. Bill of the MELBOURNE Ministry " seeme to be out of favour with. those who an " reluctantly " brought it forward.
Have they repented et their despotic purpose? or do they only hesitate at the occurrence of unexpested.ditficulties? or, as is more probable, has a mixed sentitnent of remorse and fear shaken their
resolution ? At all events, opposition to the measure is growing apace; awl one is led to hope. at least, that this disgraceful piece of Whig-Toryism.may never be consummated. Lord BROUGHAM has intimated that he will defend these help- less- Canadians against the Whig.a,tack upon their constitution.
He, then, has not been quite Thrilled by the Reform Bill. The
subject is peculiarly suited to his talents; aud if he should handle it after the old method of HENRY BROUGHAM, many an error of the morally-intoxicated Lord Chancellor will be forgiven. We should not be surprised if this shame.fulColonial Office scheme were defeated in the House of Lords after all ; not by a vote of the House, but by "reluetance" in certain Peers, exceeding that with which LODI. JOHN RUSSELL consented to become Mr. STE- PHEN'S " utensil." The Lords, as a House, are impatient to pass the RUSSELL or STEPHEN resolutions : hut how does Lord MEL- BOURNE now feel on the subject ? arid leird HOLLAND ? Those Whig noblemen, being Ministers, have only to recollect them- selves; and the base creatures from Dewniug Street, who now beset Lord Howieu and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, will slink back to their secret places, to whine over the salvatiun of the Canadian constitution.
Rut if the Whig nobility should, terrified by "the Reform Bill," be unable to rteall their ancient love. of justice and constitu- tional liberty, the masses in Englatul, who, whatever we may think of their knowledge, are always just awl generous, will make an effort to save the liberties of their Canadian "brethren." Brethren ! So the " aliens," the "French" people of Canada, are termed in a proposed petition to the House of Commons, which will be submitted to a public uweting of " the Working Men's Association'. on Monday week. This should shame Lord JOHN RUSSELL and the rest of the Whig nubility. As for the Tories, oppression is their very principle ; and it was hut natural that they should employ the " alien " pretext (making it a ques- tion of French awl English) when accepting the Whig proposal to deprive a conquered and helpless people of their constitution. The thing worthy of remark, therefore, is the present contrast between the Working: Men awl the Whigs; who may now be called, respectively, Democratic Conservatives, and Aristocratic Destructives of a fundamental law. The question being emi- nently one of "organic change." the Whigs and the Work- ing Men are at variance as usual, but have crossed over, each party from the side that it usenet), takes ! By the way, it is to be wished that the Working Men should instruct the Whigs as well as put them to shame. It is not true, as the intended petition says, that " the colonial policy of England has, for many centuries past, been fraught with tyranny and injustice." The "many centuries past" is a mistake. Down to GEORGE the Third's attack upon the local independence of our American colo- nies, the colonial policy of England was distinguished by its respect for the principle of local self-government. The conquered colonies—the miserable " Crown" colonies—colonial goverument from Downing Street—the secret and irresponsible rule of a King STEPHEN over many distant and widely-different communities— all this is an innovation, which came with the Pirr system of plunder abroad and corruption at home. It' the Working Men would instruct the Whigs on this puha, they must instruct them- selves. The first volume (1I MARSHALL'S Life of W ASHESGTON, which may be obtained at any good cirealatine library, will give them neve knowledge of our colonial history than is posseeied by any Member, we really believe, of either House of Parliament. As if to make this case as like as pessible to GEORGE the Third's attack upon the sell-governed, the Tem/Fe-independent English colonies in North America, it is rumoured, that his sou upon the throoe takes a personal interest in the success of Lord .1014N RUSSELL'S arbitrary scheme. We are loath to be- lieve that W IL LI AM the Reformer is ie such alliance with King STEPHEN. Sfill, it will be recollected that Kin, WILLeast was suspected—accused, let us say, having regard to the English con- stitution—of giving private instructions to the Canadian Cern- missioners ; and the following paragraph, which we extract from the Times, ie surely not without meanine. This is rather an awkward subject; but we shall fearlessly return to it if necessary. " At tire Chapter of the Garter oa Frid iv. Lard Aylmer received the thana cm.; of the Bath; in iuuvesr jug Ii. Las:ship with which. Iii, Majesty was grachnr.ly pie i,eit to express himself in terms of the hyte,t appr ,tatiaa of his Lurars.hiys e.mloct in his c.rerams Issosp os.4 the ottredsuatede p ret la • si,„s party hostile to British isderests. We st-uoply suspect that his
ilijesty knutes suture of Cana,lian mutters than his slliaisters."
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