The National Register. — London, England, 1809-05-07 00:00:00

THE NATION L REGISTER. PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. Monday the long-qpnounced Mc -tirg o f the Friends and Advocates Of Parliamentary Reform wa3 held at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, Strand. At five o'cli,c4 tilr doors of the great ball-room were thrown open, and the press for admission was so great, that in a few minutes all the places, con,isting of 6SO covers were filled ; as many more, it was computed, were dis appointed in their endeavours to obtain seats. - About a quarter past five o'clock, - Sir Francis Burdett enter ed the room and took the Chair, amidst a burst of acclamations; and dinner being over, proceeded to open the business of the Meeting, which he considered as a matter as interesting to the security of the Throne, as it was to the liberties and the happiness cif the people. He desired the company to considr what they would feel if a number of persons were to go down into the country among the proprietors of large landed estates, and to meet toge ther, and to insist tin their having the management of those states, whether the owners choosed them or not. This he con sidered to t tan: condition of the majority of the present House of Commons; and that such a condition of things required amendment, was a proposition much too plain for argument. lie retmnm. tided to the Meeting a perusal of the Report which Was made of the state of the representation in the year 1793, by A Society called " The . Friends of the People," and by which it appeared that 154 iedividUals returned a majority of the House of Commons. From such - A state of representation much evil was to be expected, and much indeed had been lately exposed by the persevering exertion'of his Mend Mr. Wardle, to whom the country was infinitely indebted for the discovery of so man abuses, and Which had more effect than all the Reports of Coat missioners . to disclose any of them. All this' he maintained led to a reforMation in Parliament. It might be tasked, what did the friends of reform want ? the an4yer was—They did not seek for innovation ;- tity claimed nothing hut their ancient rights, for which 'their forefathers - bled . , and trans mitted to their children the inheritance. • The' principles laid dr, w n in Magna Charta—tfie Petition of Rights—and the fill of Rights—the Act of Succession, too, recognised all these rights and liberties of the subject ; —principles on which, and on Which alone, the present family was placed upon the Throne ; and they sere the only principles which the present Meeting Was held' to promote ;—principles for an opposition to which King .lame the Second had been driven from the Throne,and another family had been allowed to ascend h.—He then took notice of the effect of modern corruption, and instanced the case of Lord Castle reagh, who had attempted to barter a Writership in India far a seat in the Jlou-e of Commons, and particularly of the defence which had been set up for him by his own colleagues—that he had not been able to accomplish the act of corruption which he began. He contrasted this case of Lord Castlereagh' liith that of a person of the name of Hatnlin; whit was convicted of offering a bribe to Mr. Addington, ••then Chancellott of the Exchequer, now Lord Sidmouth, by which heirtis entirely ruined. Ile noticed also the severe sentences which many other persons groaned under in prison, and have done so fq years, for crimes less dangerous to society than that whiCh Lord Cas tiereagh, a Minister of State, had hero adMitted tit be guilty. Retook a view of the case of the Duke of York. lle had no hisi tat ioo in saying, that the people of England did not look with the name critical eye on the foibles of the Royal Family as on those of other persons, and 'they would overlook many faults in that quarter, if they were allowed in other respects the benefits of constitution. was glad to tiod' that his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales stood entirely'free from all suspicion' of connection with any of the late unfortunate transactions which has been brought•to light. He complimented Country Gentle milt for their patriotism, and particularly Mr. Coke of Nor folk, and wished the defence of the country 'to be left to such persons, and theirtenantry in general, and condemned the prac tice of giving commands of any forces for the defence of this island to forcigners.--He wished to see the plough and the sword held by the same hand, as far as regarded the defence of the country. In a word,- he asked no more for the people of Eng land than what a loyal people might expect, and what a just, Upright; wise, and munificent King might grant. • - Ills speech was greeted' with great applause. Sir F.' Burdett called the attention of the Meeting, and said, " Gentlemen, I beg leave to give you fora toast that' person who i 3 most interested in the measure which we are met to promote— Tim King, and the Principles n hich seated his Family en the Throue--( With three times three). " Centlemen, the next toast I shall p ropose to you is who, next the King, are almost equally interested in the ititutior I reilre!..i of the corruptions of the country, I mean The People—( With three times three). The Progress of PnYie Opinion—(fVitli three). A SpPe.ly Reform in the Representation of the People—;• (With three limes three). The Causejor which llaznpden bled in the Field, and Sydoey 0:: the Scaffold. Major Carta right then proposed the Resolutions, whiO, are as follow RESOLUTIONS, IST 3I,11", 1809. Resolved, 1. That it is " the grand principle of the Con.iti • Intim), that the People shall have a share in the Goveroment, by ajust Representation in Parliament," That the long duration of Parliaments greatly facilitate the corruption of the .Members, and rewoves that wholesome check or controul on their conduct, a frequent recurrence to ir e opinion of their Coimituems. 111. That in Petition presented to the House of Commons en the &It of May, 1793, it was oitcred to be proved at the Bar, " that 15-1 indi% iduals did, by their own authority, appoint or procure the return of SOT Members of that }louse" (exclusive of those from Semi:out), " who were thus enahled to decide all questions in the name of the whole People of Great Britain." IV. That in the Act (commonly called the Act of Settlement) which placed the !louse of Brunswick on the Throne of these Realms, it was asserted and recognised as the Constitutional principle, that no person who " has an office or place of profit under the King, or receives a pension frota the Crown, shall be capable of serving as a Member of the House Commom.." V. That it appears by a Report laid on the table, of the Rouse of Commons in June last, that 13 of its members are in the regular receipt under (he Crown of 175,994!. a year. V.I. That in 1782 it was declared by Mr. Pitt in the Rouse of Commons, that " Seven or eight Members of that House were sent there by the Nabob of Arcot, and that a foreign State iu en— mity to this country might procure a party to act for it under the mark and character of Members of that House." VII. That such a state of Representation is a national griev ance. VIII. That in every department of the State into which in quiry has been made, scandalous corruptions and abuses have beef) detected. IX. That the exclusion of the public voice from all influence in, arid the consequent corruption of, the Government the Continental States, have been t lie causes of their subjugation. X. That so long as the people shall not he fairly represented, corrnptitin will increase; our debts and taxe.s will accumulate ; our resources will be dissipated ; the native energy of the pen- - pie will be depressed; and the country deprived of its best de fence against foreign foes. Xl. That to.remedy the great and glaring evils of which we complain, it is not necessary to have recourse to theoretical specsdations, or dangerous experiments in Government, but to recur to the principles handed down to us by the wisdom and v tue of our forefathers. X 11. That the remedy is to be found, and to be found only in a full and fair Representation of the People in the Commons lit.,itse of Parliament ; a remedy equally necessary to the safety of the Throat., and the llappiness and Independence of the Country. ss X 111. That we therefore recommend to every Town, City, and County, to take the state of the Representation into con sideration, and urgently, but temperately, to apply to Parlia ment to adopt such measures as shall secure to the Nation the Reality and Uses of Representation. • Ity. Maddocks seconded the Resolutions, and with great plea sure; for in his conscience he believed that they contained the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Having pledged himielf in hitt place in the House of Commons to bring fortVard the question of Parliamentary Reform, no considera tion should induce him to abandon his purpose. There were 26 burkage 'tenures, that were private property, which returned 54 uneinbers; there were 51 boroughs, the voters in each of which, did nci!. on the average exceed 50 in number; which boroughs returned 100inembers; 23 boroughs , in each of which the num ber:of voters did not exceed 100, returned 45 members; 25 ho rittif,,,lis, in each of which the voters did not exceed 200, returned 56 member'.---At tHe'end of the list there were two unfortunate bdretighs, thevoter4 of which did not exceed 300 who returned four members; 257 members, being precisely a majority of the . leatrin: members of the House of Colmaons of England, were re- IIiAY 7. NM