Star. — London, England, 1830-02-19 00:00:00

Commissioners were before the House. There was also another foirmission appointed to inquire into the ecclesiastical law. Their r port would also be laid before the house very soon. The object of the Bill which he was about to bring in, was to facilitate the rc Urm co long anal so anxiously wished for. It was for the purpose of :,..;lacing the law respecting the fees of patent officers. It was these . .-., et offers that stood in the way of all legal reform. The bill hi -..t about to introduce would prevent persons holding patent offices ..!• , r the passing of the act from standing in the way of any irn yovement which Parliament might hereafter adopt with respect to :•e administration of the law. He thought the policy of patent ffico was very questionable, and the time was come when they s aebt to he discontinued. It was also his intention to abolish , ~• Court/. of Local Jurisdiction in Wales ; but in doing so, be • at Lot mean to desfmy some peculiarities in the Welch mode of trec.e.'r winch were peculiarly suited to that country: He .I.oug!:t the time had arrived when the English system of jerk- Iwodence onelit to be introduced into Wales; and he thought it objectionable that Welch judges should be allowed to practise at the bar. or to have scats in Parliament; this he thought was 'neon. si,tent with the dignity of the judicial bench. These situations were, he feared, inconsistent with the office of judge. If Wales bad any peculiar advantage in the mode of administering justice, be was most willing it should remain. His object was, as much as possible, to curtail all technicalities and unnecessary formalities. The commissioners on legal inquiry recommended an increase of four judges, but these were not to sit in Banco; one was to be added to each of the Courts of Common Law ; and %%fluid, besides other business, attend to the business of the Welch Circuits; and by the abolition of the eight Welch judges, there would be a saving of 9,0001 which would nearly provide for the pay of the new Judges; and considering the necessity there was for economy, he should propose that the new Judges, and all hereafter to be appointed, should not receive recce than 5,0001. a-year, and the retired allowance would also be lessened. It was his anxious wish to simplify the law and he could not give a stronger proof of it than by stating th at, within a short time, at his suggestion, 272 acts of parliament were repealed, and their clauses condensed into eight sets, and he was glad to say that this had been done without any material inconvenience. He was glad also to have kin his power to state that the Lord Advocate would soon have it in his power to propose a measure for improving the administra tion of justice in Scotland. The right hon. member concluded by moving that aCommittee be appointed to inquire into the amount of fees in Courts of Law. Mr. BROUGHAM was glad to hear that the Welsh judges were to be done away with, because it so far lessened the influence of the executive; and there was another improvement he was glad to hear, namely, that the number of judges in Scotland were to be reduced, but he feared there must be an increase of their salaries. In the changes contemplated, he hoped to see the system of jury trials upheld in Scotland, and he ludied it as a good symptom that so able a lawyer as Mt. Aber crombie had been appointed to the o ffi ce of Chief Berms; and he thought it would be a great advantage if other gentlemen accustomed to jury trials were appointed to the Scotch bench. He did not think that the appointment of four additional judges would in itself be of great advantage, unless business were by compulsion distributed among the several cours. It was a great evil that the King`a Bench should have more business than the judges could at tend to whilst the Exchequer had little to do. There could be no hardship in compelling suitors to go to particular courts, for at sent suitors suitors hod no choice of the judges who were to try their causes on circuit. Mr. FERGUSSON regretted that there was no intention ex pressed of making a change in the constitution of the privy council. At present that court was composed of persons totally d i sq ualified to give judicial decisions. With regard to the Scotch ju he ges, would, on quture occasion, show that they were inadequate y paid. Ile wished to return his thanks to the right boo. secretary for this measure, sl‘ch was one of the many Improvements in the state of the law which bad emanated from him. Be thought it ought to be laid down as a rule that no judicial character should ever haves seat in Parliament, and from this rule he could not except the master of the rolls. Mr. HUME said the Judges in Scotland had little to do in pro. portion to their numbers, and he not only wished to see their num bers reduced, but he believed their salaries need not be lnaeased— In fact, the Scotch Barons of the Exchequer had only tried ten causes in one year, and he should oppose any measures that would add to the burdens of the country. Mr. FERGUSSON explained. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL had great doubt whether a compulsory division of the business of the courts could be carried into effect, but he would not then enter into a discussion of all the topics of this debate, but merely rose to give notice that he should on Thursday next move for leave to bring in a bill for the better admi. ;nitration of justice in England and Wales. Mr. O'CONNELL was glad thatforemment were no longer in hostility to improvement, but he did. not think the right hon. craary went far enouNb. He thought the practiced all the courts cught to be assimilated, nor could be see why a man in Cumberland should be obliged to send up for a piece of parchment to London be fore he could recover a debt; nor could be understand why there should be no local jurisdiction for the recovery of large as well as small debts ; and he thought there should not be a turnpike-toll on' the road to justice. He thought a new code ought to be enacted for England, as well as had been done with success in other countries. Mr. PEEL was sure, when the returns were before the house, it would appear that site duties of Scotch Judges were very arduous, and they had laborious duties to perform. With respect to the hon. member for Clare, he was glad to hear him, since he got intoParlia suent, discuss several subjects with &temperance and judgment that deserved praise—a praise higher than any he had ever received out of the house. He (Mr. Peel) did not think it would be advisable to enact a new code for England; such an experiment had failed in ether countries, and led to more confusion and commentaries than were contained in the English statute book. Mr. O'CONNELL explained. Leave was then given to bring in the bill. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. The Marquis of BLANDFORD.-1 rise to answer the call made on me last Session; and following the course then suggested for my adoption by my Right Honourable opponent the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to offer for the consideration of this House " a practical detailed measure :" and first, Sir, I must preface the observations I shall have occasion to address to you, by calling to the recollection of this House the course pursued by me upon the occa sion I have referred to. I then, Sir, considered it my duty to divide the House upon the Question whether Parliament would or would not be pleased by a formal resolution to recognise the existence and venality of the close and decayed boroughs, for that really was the whole of the question which I thought it advisable to submit to the House, uni%er the very singular opposi tion I met with from the Right Hon. Secretary for the Home Department. The venality of these boroughs is as sure as their existence, and both are equally notorious ; but there is a wide difference between the notoriety of such offences, and a Parliamentary recognition of their existence. Mere notoriety begets defiance of public opinion and a fearless habit of offending. But if Parlia ment by a formal vote bad put its brand mark upon these transactions—if by some general resolution it had stig matised them as crimes against the law of Parliament and the Constitution of the country, a good foundifien would then have been laid for the Reform of what had been declared to be true, for the prevention of what had been denounced as illegal. But it did not seem good to the majority of this House to hurt the sensibilities of the boroughmonger, by calling his trade by its proper name, or to injure his interests by saying, that his gains were condemned by Parliament and the Country. The people, howeier, will speak out, though Parliament, may chino to keep silence, or may try to impose silence upon others. The voice of the country is not to be stifled by a vote of this House—it will be in vain to attempt to smother truth—not all the finesse of all the political in triguers, nor all the power of all the political .despots, will be able to stem or turn aside the current which is new setting in full and strong against the present system of chaffering for seats in this house. It is in vain to attempt to deck these' transactions in all sorts of gaudy . colours, and to call theni happy methods of introducing to public notice modest merit and latent talent, and virtue, and patriotism, and I know not what besides. It is in vain to rocked up the Whip and the Tories of note, and of no note, who have contrived to bring themselves, and their independence, into Parliament, by these beck gates and bye-ways. The thing retains the same character of torruptionr whe ther it generates the venal Statesman, or the useful Member of Parliament ; the splendid fly that soars in this House upon the wings of eloquence, or the grub that feeds upon the vitals of the country—Corruption is the father of them all. Neither will all the speeches of all the approvers of such a system be able to make corrup tion incorrupt, or convert the Borough business into a blessing, or legalise the wholesale trade of selling seats. As matters now stand, the fury of the law may be said to mistake its objects—it passes over the daringoutrages upon the constitution, in order to fall with redoubled violence upon the petty assaults, and petty larcenies, committed against the rights and liberties of the subject, and the purity of elections. The storm of Parliamentary enact ments has fallen upon the small tradesmen, and retail dealers in the bribery line— " Dat simian corvis, vexat censura Columbas." Many a wordy statute pours its thunders upon the head of the starveling, who sells his vote, and dines upon his degradation ; but our Code contains no store of wrath, no pains, nor penalties, nor cen sures, for the great and extensive ready money trade in returns to Parliament. Seats, two or ten at a time, may be bought and sold, and all concerned will continue, all, all honourable men—and they will find in this House not merely apologists but panegyrists—they may be even extolled for true patriots—and the ready money me thod of getting a seat is extolled too, and is called pa triotic, and expedient, and constitutional, and just as it ought to be. But, Sir, I cannot concur in such sentiments ; such panegyric and such phi losophy are alike adverse to my views and con victions—and hsfpily for the country, and all its great interests, his Majesty's Ministers do not appear to etparti cipate in these opinions—l certainly have never them take that line of defence, or rather empty declama tion, and most impotent delusion. They have never set foot upon that slippery and hollow ground—so that, in spite of the negative by which the Right Hon. Gentle man opposed my resolution last Session, I shall continue to think that Government may be disposed to treat the question of Reform, not In the spirit of party politicians or borough traders, but upon the principles of truth and reason. Agreeably, therefore. Sir, to the terms of my notice, and in conformity with what I would fain hope I might find to be the disposition of the Government, I will endeavour to make the question one of principle, and not of party. I will refer it altogether to the decision of the Law and Constitution. I will make them the criteria of what is right and wrong—true and false— sincere and corrupt, in respect of our Parliamentary Re turns. Now, Sir, without going into any abstract ques tion about the right of popular representation, without touching the -historical controversies upon that point, without investigating the origin of Parliaments or Par liamentary Councils, it may (and, as I think, safely) be laid down that national Councils, of some sort and denomination,_ are coeval with our ex istence as a nation. Normans--Saxons--Britons— all had them. These are facts capable of beiug established by recorded evidence, not truths deducible by arguing from.natural principles and probabilities. We find the vestiges of popular representation, the elements of a Parliament in all parts and periods of our history. To trace the steps by which this primitive right was moulded into its present shape and size—to skew lay what collision of contending interests it has been compressed and restrained from without—by what elasticity from within it has often struggled for expansion—to cast up the number of all the political conflicts in which the question has been involved, though interesting, are unnecessary speculations. The enquiries we have to deal with are whether the people are, or are not, at this time represented according to the manifest purpose and designs of the laws and constitution of the coun try—or whether by the lapse and vicissitudes of time great changes have taken place in the state of our par liamentary representation, or rather in its very principles and efficiency ; and whether any thing can be found in the altered state of our political relations, foreign or domestic, to prevent a return to the original practice, and the fun damental principles of the Constitution. As to the ques tion then, whether the people are, or are not, represented in a manner conformable with the principles and purposes of the Constitution ; notwithstanding the ingenuity of a Paley, or the eloquence of a Canning, I assert that thoy are not so represented—it is contrary to those principles, that decayed and desolate places should return Members to this House—it is contrary to those principles that seats in this House should be bought and sold. And first, as to the fixedness of the returns of Representatives from towns and boroughs, the same number from the same places, let what will be their state, and condition, as to the density, or thinness, or nothingness of their popula tion—their wealth or their poverty—their commercial or agricultural strength or weakness. Now here, Sir, we find at once a wide departure from the principle that gave birth to the returns of citizens and burgesses. Without wishing to re-invest the crown with its old discretion of is. suing its summons to this, or that town or borough, acccrd ing to somezesi or supposed superiority which it possessed over others, I cannot but observe that the variableness perceived in the issue of these writs, and the returns made upon them, suggests this important conclusion— that in those ancient days, which some may be disposed to call days of political ignorance, civio or municipal prosperity, seems mainly to have determined the fitness of the city or borough for the elective franchise. I am aware that there are some outstanding questions upon this point ; and that it has been contended that the King in early times was wont to summon none but the royal bo roughs—none but his own tenants on burgage tenure, to come to his Councils, and settle their rates of contribu• tion to his wants: but this will not account , for the as tare, number, and diversity of the early reform and I think it is clear, from the history of the places them selves, that much depended upon their prosperity. Whin emits and boroughs were seen to thrive, the King's &our was also seen to follow their good fortune ; and when their gold was seen to glitter, the Crown dis covered the means of satisfying its necessities, and found abundant reasons for calling upon them to- send their citizens and burgesses to Parliament ; for whether it was the King, or the King's officer, who selected the cities or boroughs, it makes no difference to my argument ; it was their wealth and prosperity which determined the choice— their ability to defray the expenses of their citizens and burgesses during their attendance in Parliament—their rank as trading towns—their right to be represented, by reason of their commercial weight and greatnessin short, Sir, whatever might be the motive, public or pri vate, whi ch determined the Royal choice, it was the con sequence of the town, under some relation er anotber—; I mean its political consequence—which pointed it out as a proper subject for these Parliamentary honours. If. then, this changeableness in the issue of writs of summons 'be admitted, as it must be, for it is an historical fact, it will not only throw light upon the present unintelligible returns from places of no consideratien ; but further, it will suggest the fitness of recurring to piimitive;prin tiptoe, and of transferring elective framilless her old fose-ways and crumbling castles, from the selltads4the phi s and•the.ploughed field to the busy haputs of tri the industrious, and the intelligent, and the indepen dent, among the sons of agriculture and commerce. But • . . besides this departure from the ancient principles end practice of Parliamentary Representation, there is another which has taken place, and which may be said to have arisen out of it. When boroughs became the sepulchres of departed greatness and prosperity, retaining nothing of their former condition but their name, and their soil, and their custom of returning one or two members to Parliament, they became the property of the rich and the powerful ; and instead of being dependent, as they originally were, upon the pleasure of the Crown for their writs of summons, they became dependent upon the plea sure of their purchasers, for the returns to those writs— and their writs of summons and charters of incorporation, (like other paper and parchment securities,) became marketable commodities, conveying to the buyer the certainty of honors, and the contingency of profits in this House—this a lso is a manifest departure from con stitutional principles and practice. When towns and boroughs were first called upon to send representatives to Parliament, it was not intended to decorate these places, in their decay and downfall, with immortal honors, or to make their lifeless bodies fetch high prices, like subjects for dissection—it was not the design to invest the silence and desolation of ruined streets, and market places, with the everlasting right of sending a couple of Members to the National Council. It was never meant to help on the speculations of craft, or the gains of avarice, or the projects of ambition, by making seats and franchises, ar ticles to be bought by the best bidder. But, Sir, these , departures from ancient principles, these violations of an cient practice, have not only taken place in the manner of making returns from these close and decayed boroughs (in which returns nothing can now he discovered like " frawsche et due election," according to the ancient statute—nothing like the principle in the ancient writ, " /mod MRCS tangit ab omnibus appro- Letstr :" but there are still more remarkable violations and departures in respect of the qualifications of the burgesses returned—by the ancient laws and practice they were to be " resident, in -dwellers, and freemen of the borough or city they represented, and no others"—" Nuls mitres in 'tulle manicure." It is true that these laws were re pealed—it is true also that to the repealing act we may fairly ascribe much of the mischief that now exists. Boroughs are now supplied with representatives from every other description of persons, except residents and in -dwellers, or persons locally connected with those bo roughs. We may look through the whole series of Cor nish returns, and scarcely find a Cornish name in the list of their burgesses : we cannot even say " stat montinis umbra ;" name as well as thing are both gone—the close and decayed boroughs of Cornwall have passed into the hands of strangers to the county. The interests of the Stiummies are sometimes confided to speculators in the mines of Mexico and Peru. Paper is seen to triumph over the influence and interest of its tin. By the mere operation of paper and parchment, Cornish seats have been trans ferred like shares in a joint stock company, at the market price, to some great capitalist of London. And, Sir, there is another principle, a principle well developed in a Writ of 47. Edward 111. which it is most important to attend to, and apply. It is there laid down as a necessary qualifi cation, that Borough Representatives should have a suit able knowledge of local interests : the Writ in question required the Sheriff to return " do quolibet Burgo duos Burgesses qui in navigio et exercitio mercandisanun no. titian habeant meliorem;" and the Writ concludes with an injunction that acne are to be returned, who want this necessary local or rather municipal information. The knowledge which was required in these burgesses was a plain practical knowledge for every days use ; it was not a superfine knowledge in political economy ; that sort of science which has filled the country with bankrupts and bookmakers, which produces thick octavos, and thin purses, and makes men very rich in fine phrases, and very poor in pocket. This was not the kind of knowledge which King Edward re- quired for his Burgesses : They were to be knowing men " exercitio ntercandisaruns," in a good souse tradesmanlike information, such as was bottomed uposil COIII2IOII sense and common experience—not upon theory and hair-splitting, and the follies of a fanciful philoso phy. The result, then, of all these references to partici mentary antiquities is, that Borough Elections ought te be as free, as those of Counties—that the members re turned ought to have some original connection with the places they represent. They ought to have also local knowledge, a plain practical knowledge of the trade, and trading interests, of their constituents. But to all this it may, perhaps, be replied that the system is ancient, that the practice has passed into usage, and become an este r blished custom, and that it is not safe to disturb what time has sanctioned and settled. To all this, however, the words of Lord Bacon will supply the shortest, and readiest refutation. " Time (says he) is a great innova tor," meaning that time itself, and what Is called the march of events, produce such changes in the dream ' stances, relations, and affinities of old institutions, as to make them different in fact and effect, though they may continue the same in name ; they may even become so different, as to require adjustments and adaptations to the vicissitudes of time, in order to secure their ori ginal utility ; and that great man has followed up his remark by such pertinent illustrations of it, that I can not forbear citing them in support of my own views upon this question : neither will they be thought the worse for being ingrafted upon some of the old adagio of our laws. " Leges," (says he) " novis legibus non recreatce acescune —laws not refreshed by new laws wax sour—" qui Ina/a ncnt permutat in bonis non per severat"—without change of ill, a man cannot continue the good—to take away abuses supplanteth not good orders, but establisheth them—" Morose moris retentio ref tu rbuleata est wows ac novitas"—a contentious re taining of custom is a turbulent thing, as much so as innovation—a good husbandman is ever pruning in his vineyard, or his fields, not unreasonably, not unskilfully, but lightly ; he findath ever somewhat to do." And so, Sir, it is with respect to the subject of Parliamentary Reform ; and I assert, upon this high authority, that to defend as a thing that is praiseworthy, or to re commend as a thing that is expedient, the present ownership in seats and suffrages, and writs of summons to Parliament,. because it is ancient, is a sort of revolu tionary doctrine ; it is to hold the language and opinions of revolutionary men ; it ii to think, and talk, and act, contrary to the principles of our, representation, and the analogies of our law, and the spirit of our Constitution , and the judgment of oar best writers. The theorist who sets about the define of venal and proprietary borotighe may, perhaps, be able to cite many ancient and modem vpointments by Wise, as well as Gentlemen—for,, if I rightly recollect the *weds of the Record, Dame Dorothy Paciiingtoo. in Abe 14th of Elisabeth, sent ** *bur gesses to Parliament from her town of Aylesbury ; and notified; under her hand and seal, that they were her Re , prepentatiies ; and that whateier 'they did , was to be considered is her act and deed. Is, how ever, of this high authority, and all other anicimit precedents, it will not be possible SD make the.. crooked traisactiOns strait : it will not be, possible to eorrect their deformities, or to cleanse 'their &anew, to legalise their unlawfulness. They are, and ever must remain foul spots upon our drapery—dark and dirty places upon the apparel of this House. Neither are they to be washed out by rhetorical ablutions ; by descant ing upon the beauty which results from the intermixture of imperfections, and the harmony which arises from dis cord, and the practical advantage of departing from the letter of the law, and of doing a little evil that good may come. Allthis, and a great deal more may be said, and admired, by the lovers of dextrous declamation; but if ten times more were to be said, and ten times better, it could not have the effect of altering the essential cha racter of these transactions ; for these questions still recur ; is it agreeable to the constitution of the Commons' House of Parliament, that there should be anything like settled succession in the course and order of sitting in this House ? that there should be any thing like purchase in the mode of getting into it? that there should be any thing like an heir loom—any thing like an heritable, or a marketable, or a testamentary property, or interest attached to these benches ?—a sort of pro perty or interest which a man may call his own if he buys it, or is born to it. Such things as these, Sir, are too monstrous to admit, I will not say of decora tion, but defence ; and when we find able men, politi cians, or philosophers trying their best tactics to save these things from attack and overthrow, one cannot help lamenting their waste of fine words, and fine wit—their misuse of the florid in style, and the subtle in argument, and the sarcastic in reply. I might, Sir, proceed to point out other changes produced by time. Changes have taken place in respect of the qualifications both of the electors and the elected ; and changes in the mode of discharging these great public trusts of representa .tion ; and changes in men's opinions of them, and in the way in which they are now considered, and spoken of, and sought for. Instead of being called hardships and burthens, from which poor towns prayed to be re lieved, they have become lucrative deputations, bene ficiary appointments, from which poor towns contrive to derive a profit: instead of the Sheriff being obliged to secure the appearance of his citizen or burgess by manucaptar, , and even by the seizure of their goods and chattels, be is sure to find plenty of candidates for a vacant seat, and no lack of cost or contrivance to obtain it. Instead of re ceiving wages—(Knights 4s. Citizens and Burgesses 2s. a day) —many honourable gentlemen would be glad to hold their seats at no higher cost, than the daily payment of ten times the higher sum. But though time has changed the face of all things, both in and out of Parlia ment ; though it has changed all the great interests of the country, and all the relations of public, and Parlia mentary, life ; and the whole moral, as well as political economy of the nation—it has produced no change in the real objects and purposes of Parliamentary representation. It has not in any way affected the reasons which made the Commons of England demand and obtain, an ade quate appearance by proxy in the great Council of the nation. It has not weakened, nor obscured, any ono of the plain and simple propositions contained in the writs of summons to the sheriffs ofthe realm. What was good law and good policy upon the issue of the first writ for knights citizens and burgesses, 565 years ago, continues to be so still ; and there is not a better way of arriving at the re. form which is so much desired, than by reverting to an cient principles, to the manifest designs of our forefathers, to the records of their prudence, u well as of their prowess ; and I believe that surer, safer, and readier guidance will be found in the light of their wisdom and the brightness of their example, than in the dreams of the enthusiasts, or in the doctrines of the philosophy of the present day ; and I am convinced that it will be found that the best sort of reform will be the restoration of what time hutimpaired, the cleansing of what corruption has polluted, the rectifying of what craft has twisted aside from its proper use and real design. Nothing, Sir, it appears to me now, remains but that I should simply and as shortly as I may be able, state the outlines of the Bill which I hold in my hand, and which in its principal pro visions I have endeavoured to construct upon ancient principles—principles which have appeared to me best fitted for amending and repairing the Constitution of this House—" Sum ex lit qui ntirer antiquos."— Now, then, Sir, I prl , this bill, which is to restore to the Commons of England their rightful share in the Legislature, to place upon record, by way of recitals, the fundamental principles of representation, as I find them in the books, when both the theory and the prac, tice were in the state of their greatest purity ; that the clear meaning of this bill may never be misunderstood. I find from the time of Henry 111. and throughout the subsequent reigns of the three first Edwards, (a period at which Sir Matthew Hale, and other text writers, declare the Law of England to have reached the highest degree of perfection), that there can be no doubt that the citi zens and burgesses returned to Parliament s by virtue of the King's writ, to the Sheriffs of the different counties, were, elected and chosen by the inhabitant-householders of the large and populous towns, paying scot and lot ; and so it was declared by a Committee of the How* of Commons of which Lord Coke (the great oracle of the Law of England) and the learned Mr. Sel don, were both Members : for during the reigns above alluded to, and down to that of Edward IV. the practice of granting royal charters had not been intro duced—the first being in the 17th year of that reign, by which charter the right of sending one burgess to Par liament was granted to the borough of Wenlock. I propose, then, by the first enactment of this sill, that a Committee of 21 Members of this House (to be chosen by ballot,) shall be appointed within ten days after the passing ef this Act, and hereafter within the first an days after the commencement of each Session, with full power o'ascertain the exact stale of every city, borough, and port,' in the United Kingdom. Secondly :—That as soon as the said Committee shall bare ascertained the fact that any city, borough, or port, have fallen into de cay, and ceased to be such populous and wealth.v place, as was originally intended, to send a Member or Members to serve in Parliament, or that the franchise granted - to any city, or borough, ought to be considered as forfeited by mit-user or non-user, that it sha ll be the duty of the Committee to report such facts to the Secretary of the State for the Home Department; and that such report shall be deemed, and taken to be that which, during the purity of the representation, weeld have taken place, and actually did take place in many in stances, namely, the petition of each City or Borongh . to be relieved of the burden of sending me.i.bers to Parlia ment:--Thirdly, That upon receiving such Report, it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to announce in the Gazette that such city or borough has ceased to send lumbers to Parliament, or that the franchise thereof has been forfeited for mis-user. Fourthly : The Committee it. directed to begin their investigation and reports, with the Burger Tenure ! Boroughs, because these are known in their privies 'gate, to afford a direct proprietary in terest. Filthiy :o—That as soon as such announcement shall be aside in the Gazette, the Committee shill select such pltiOlOus 'Unteprersgrad, or inadectiately represented towns or . pfaces, with the hundreds, &striate, or parishes, surrounding the same, es the Cranmistste shall think proper, in order to fiil up the seats rendered vacant as ' above ; and it is provided that the right of voting in such