TOPICS OF THE DAY.

FACTS AND INFERENCES.

FACT I.A week has elapsed since the Reform Bill was thrown out, and yet Parliament is not prorogued. Fact- 2. Not a word has yet been said by Ministers as to the only constitutional method of recovering the lost Bill,-viz. the creation of Peers.

Fact 3. The Ministers' (nominally the King's) answer to the City address, on Wednesday, consists of vague generalities, whIch mean any thing or nothing.

Fact 4. The most efficient opponents of the Bill ill the Lords have ostentatiously declared their conviction that the time for Reform is come.

Fact 5. Ministers have intimated that they want repose for themselves, and time for deliberation.

Fact 6. The Torie7. (who, it \yin be admitted, are watchful, zealous, and thoroughly informed of what relates to mere party politics) are greatly elated, and in private describe " the Bill" as lost ; whilst the more crafty of them, and their organs of the press, speak tenderly of the Ministers, even in the most flattering terms of Lord BaouGuAm., and are become strenuous advocates of " Reform which shall satisfy all parties."

From these facts several inferences may be drawn, which, as descriptive of the intentions of Ministers, may he called facts:- 1. Parliament will be prorogued till the beginning of next year.

2. No Peers will be created for the purpose of carrying " the Bill" through the House of Lords. 3. On the contrary, " the Bill" will never be brought forward again ; but instead of it, eta conciliatory Bill"-that is, a Bill to which the party of Lord WHARNCLIFFE, including the Bishops, may not object.* From the above data we are led to a melancholy train of specu- lation. First of all, the whole question of Reform being postponed for two months, all the evils which have lately arisen horn uncer- tainty must last for at least two months longer. Secondly, any Bill but that of Lord Join' RUSSELL must give rise to discussions in the House of Commons as tedious, probably, as those which attended Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S Bill ; for it should be remem- bered, that there is a party in both Houses who will strenuously object to even a mock Reform,-namely, in the Upper House, Lord LONDONDERRY and his Royal Highness the Duke of C Uss- BERLAND ; in the Lower House, Sir CHARLES WETHERELL and Mr. Horn. Thirdly, there is a party in the Lower. House, led by Messrs. Hums and O'CONNELL, who also will object, nay, must object, to a Bill calculated to please Lord WHARNCLIFFE and the Bishops. Hence a division amongst the Retbrmers. Fourthly, there is a party, or rather there are mem- bers of the Lower House, who, though they were forced to pro- mise their support of " the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill," will not consider themselves pledged to a new Bill, and who would not be sorry to see the question of Reform postponed to the time of our grandchildren. Hence, possibly, the Whig Ministers may have no majority for their new Bill in the Corn- mons, and may be obliged to resign, even before the question shall be again discussed in the House of Lords. Or, will they resort to another dissolution ? and if they should, will the Country return a large majority favourable to their New Bill?

* The above was written, and put in type, yesterday. The following statement appears in the Chronicle of this morning. " On Wednesday last, a meeting of Delegates from the different Parishes, at the Crown andAnchor, came to the following resolutions.

" e 1. That this meeting has heard with feelings of dismay, that it is intended to prorogue Parliament until after Christmas. 2. That this meeting composed princi- pally of deputations from various parishes of the metropolis, is confident that the state of feeling in .their respective parishes is of such a nature as to render a pro- rogation for so long a period of most imminent and instant danger to the liWeA and properties of his Majesty's subjects. 3. That this meeting beg leave to urge upon his Majesty's Government the necessity of iunnediately proroguing the Parliament, and to assemble it again within seven days, so as to enable them to reintroduce Lord John Russell's Bill, and to pass it without delay. 4. That a memorial to Earl Grey be founded on the foregoing resolutions. 5. That the memorial now read to this meeting be adopted, and signed by all the gentlemen now present. 6. That the memorial be conveyed to Earl Grey to-night by a Deputation, to consist of one gentleman from each parish.'"

The memorial to Earl Grey represents-

" That the memorialists are resident in various parishes in the metropolis, and have considerable knowledge, and some influence in their several localities. That they have heard, with astonishment, that it is intended to prorogue the Par- dement, and not to reassemble it again till after Christmas. That they should neither do their duty to themselves, to their country, nor to the Government, if they did not assure his Lordship it is their firm conviction, that unless the Parliament be prorogued for theshortest possible period (not exceeding seven days), and that the Bill for Reforming the Parliament, which has passed the House of Commons, be there again introduced, and the necessary means be adopted to secure its becoming the law of the land, this country will inevitably be plunged into all the horrors of a violent revolution, the result of which no one can predict.' " " On Wednesday night, at about a quarter to eleven, a deputation of seventeen gentlemen from the different parishes, headed by Dr. Carpue, ' waited on Earl Grey on the subject of the memorial. The result of their in- terview was the ascertaining that Parliament would be prorogued till after Christmas ; that no more Peers would be made ; that a conciliatory Bill would in the interval be prepared of a nature to obtain the suffrages of a majority of the Lords. The Deputies, we understand, assured his Lord- ship that the people would be content with Lord John Russell's Bill. Ills Lordship answered, that it would be absurd to think of again proposing Lord John Russell's Bill : that Ministers would not think of bringing in a Bill which they knew would not be carried ; that, however, the people might rest assured they would support no Bill which would not secure to the people their constitutional rights. As to a prorogation for seven days, his Lordship said it was quite impossible to be prepared with the 13111 in that time; that the framing of the Bill would require much attention, and occupy much time. This is, we understand, the substance of what passed at the interview."-3forning Chronicle, Oct. 15.

If these forebodings are groundless, still these are the anticipa- tions of the more cunning of the Tories—anticipations on which, in private, they delight to dwell. Let us now take the other view of the question,—the view which we admit has been taken by ninety-nine out of one hundred Reformers during the past week.

1. The Ministers are firm: they are resolved to carry a Billies "efficient" as the Bill; which, if it be as (fficient, will be "the Bill" revived. They will prorogue Parliament for but a short time, and will, if necessary, create a hundred Peers. 2. The more sensible of the Tories are coming round : they are very sorry for having voted against "the Bill ;" and though a new Bill must in form differ from the old one, so as to let them down gently, they will vote for it, and Ministers will be spared the necessity of creating so many Peers. Which ofthese two opposite views of the

subject is correct, will soon be decided by the prorogation of Parh j a-

ment. If Parliament should be prorogued for the shortest time usti- Bed by precedent, which is two days, or even for a longer period jus- tified by several precedents, viz. fourteen days—we shall acknowledge that we were misled as to the intentions of Ministers. Mean- while, as we cannot be parties to any delusion of the public, we are bound to state what we believe to be the truth, namely, that Ministers intend to prorogue Parliament for the longest period allowed by law, without stating that at the end of that period it will meet "for despatch of business ;" that they do not at present contemplate • the creation of a single Peer ; and that they do contemplate introducing a new Bill, to be approved by Lord Hart- nowey, Lord WHARNCLIFFE, and many of the Bishops.

Meanwhile, patience, good people—PATIENCE is the word. How old is patience ? How long is it necessary to wait in order to be called patient ? Waiting for Reform began during the American War—when is it to end ? Our fathers were patient— we have been patient—are our children also to be patient and long- suffering ? When is Impatience to begin ? This journal circulates only among persons of property and education, the friends of peace, order, and good government. They will understand that by "impatience" we mean not any overt act, and much less such acts of violence as have been com- mitted during the last week by a rabble of thieves at Derby and Nottingham as well as in London. We mean impatience strictly according to law,—and not merely in strict • accordance to law, but having a tendency to preserve all the laws and the property and persons of all the King's subjects. We mean Remonstrance with the Ministers,—not from a rabble of thieves, nor even from great bodies of the working classes, but from those who have the deep- est interest in order,—remonstrance against the pursuit of a course which promises to involve the whole country in confusion and misery. -e

Will the stagnation, which has existed for months past in every branch of trade, be exchanged for activity, so long as the Reform question remains unsettled ? Assuredly not ; and if that stagna- tion continue much longer, does any one doubt that great numbers of the working-classes will be without employment and without bread ? On that point, no one at all acquainted with the subject has any doubt. What is likely to happen in case large masses of the manufacturing workpeople should be thrown out of employ- ment, we laid before the Lords, by way of warning, a fortnight ago. In common with many who have the best means of ascer- taining the feelings of the agricultural labourers, we believe, and have often before expressed the belief, that the Swing fires were stopped by the Reform Bill. Those very worst acts of outrage were renewed when, in consequence of the slow progress of the Bill in the ComMons' Committee, people began to doubt whether it would ever pass at all: and yet it is proposed to postpone the whole question of Reform until all the nights of 1831 shall have passed away !

Against a course of proceeding so pregnant with danger and troubles, the middle classes will, we trust, protest, if there be yet time.

The highest of the Aristocracy—nay, the Bishops themselves— have the deepest interest in preventing a long postponement of the Reform question. Suppose Parliament prorogued till January, no Peers created, a new Reform Bill introduced, and not opposed

by Sir ROBERT PEEL, but opposed on the one hand by Sir CHARLES 'WETHERELL and HUNT, and on the other by Messrs. HUME and O'CONNELL,—suppose a delay of at least six months before any Bill shall be carried,—what will occupy the minds of the people in the intertal ?—the defeat of their ardent wishes by 178 Lords and 21 Bishops!

The Ministers also have the deepest interest in reviving 4" the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill," as soon as ,possible. For, in the first place, they must be held responsible for the consequences of delay ; and secondly, no " Conciliation Bill" will be considered a final measure ; but such a bill, if passed, will leave the question of Reform nearly as much unsettled as it is at This moment.