The Sun. — London, England, 1831-03-03 00:00:00

7 . : '1 , übject of Reform. It, showed that when the Par- ' and daeat did wh a t was right, they removed disaffection, fl ou rdil led around them all the well-disposed. If the fonWere prepared to declare that the demand for Re ' W tb at 4, not proper, —that the evil was not manifest . ,. 7. pttr:_qe corruption was not glaring,—they might ati.h Ga t consistency determine not to give up a stone of sq i ai and to die in the ditch of Old Sarum, where there liN ttc 'thing but a ditch to die in. —(Hear, hear.) He be the' however, that the House would not so far outrage so n , le aae of the community as to say that they would Re fe el tt i ell as entertain the question. The question of e• of i_ n ad been supported by the constitutional authority s Chatham, the talent and integrity of George . rce,' L tb e Young energies of Mr. Pitt, and the consistent of M r. F ox. Those were high authorities. It Clvrree there was one great name opposed to Reform.te ,!, t he only p o i nt upon wh i ch he d i ffered with the la r t . , s ,;?ning in th e l atter part of hi s career. What rot Iry Canning would new have pursued, it was not d ow ''''n to determine; but that great statesman hail laid set:t.the principle, that when two extreme parties were tle,rtnnfgteciety, i t was th e duty of a patriot . to steer , Prevent both of them. Two extreme parties were at toelieraOating the country. One was opposed to all 'i t s,' ° ion, and the other advocated the worst species of rt as with th e v i ew of subs citing the existing institu. te ' ‘ '' and all the gradations and ranks of society. Be kei' twee extremes the only safe path was the con 11,;:te,e Principl e to wh i ch the measure su b mitted to the *itl L ed. To th a t l et t h em h o ld f ast. B y conce d ing 1 1 " 8 just, w i se, an d h onest, they would be armed ie.tenfeld power t o res i s t w h a t was unjust, unwise and CHA RLES WETHERELL, who had been pre tiei,o-NY called b y t h e House, began by saying that it was the Pia called in that House, when Members rose to address L,it'"llse with the intention of trespassing up i ' on its at beSpeak its indulgence. Upon the present (x -''. 4 -0 ba d a most powerful claim to that indulgence, th e litsiaPPeared f rom the list which had been produced by . t he 4 ° 0 1 : 1 1 e Paym aster of the Forces on t h e other of e se ' and which h a d b een ma d e k nown t o hi m (Sir he etherell) for the first time last night, that this ava% Pre tn t , l last tim e th at b e was to have the. honour of re 41Boroughbridge.—(A l aug h , and " hear.")-- lies e t. C. Wetherell) was, ther e fore, i n th e un h a ppy pre elte,4,lt\ (4 . risi ng to ma k e hi s l ast d y i ng speech.---(Loud t hei --11 ever, th en , t h ere was a case t h a t demand edl, ll o % 4 , 4 i dulgence, and which was granted to any Member hi ' t icited the attention of the House, it was due to kte eti go was in extremis, when he trespassed upon their 'NW " for the last time. He was now askingwhathe ii,ia;mil"ter ask again ; and the House would doubtless thi+7„, t t his the last request of the dying Member of ar -4.• 1 "r Ilero libridge...--(Laughter.)—Hedid not ask t5 l hOWe U fer , to re-animate his drooping mind, to .el e"at " bis expiring ' feelings ; for, notwithstanding . the I le ) t e h -4tit er of the Forces had introduced into his list the . V er of B oroughbridge as a cashiered Member, he (Sir } let of should, in defiance of that list, or of the . i tsj e e L 'prd's new constitution of the Parliament, still 'ent that borough, which the Paymaster . of the ood I l t ad, in his list, so presumptuously cashiered.— e r ell t e ers, on the opposition side of the House.) — With Lord, of whose t a lent s h e s h ou ld s p ea k I)l4,•,:Peet, and especially of those which he had dis- ilie • , '" a ni the ex pos i t i on of a difficult plan would permit t her e 4 an expiring Member of Parliament, to say, that tti.:itteeteed to have been a sort of elective attraction, as "ernistis called it—and a chemical term was a good to.,,he employed in thie case—whereby the Noble Lord ltte,-I.4ldenly imbibed the properties of office ; for the sub iiste;g' in this summary manner 120 Members of Par intent to a sentence of cashierment, unheard, wiinquired thaPs(l.l"r)—looked more like a military proscription, •:7What was vulgarly called Parliamentary Reform.— theiZl•) ----The House would permit him, and he asked genFe, though it was not his int en ti on t o t rea t Pe t li r ,7oe circl e of this subject, t o t o u c h' u p on one or two t l iefe - „TarY points on this extremely important question. q a lißegan, however, he wished to refer to what had •' l..r e ern an lion Gentleman who had la cmtly spoken 1% 1', 1 , 11 ".)--Tlie . Hon. Gentleman had doubtless consi !,rsee(th-'at what he had said by way of argument was an Itie l i;' t t In favour of the Bill; but though the . Hon. tee, eraser bad said that he should yote for the his ar hitiP. went strongly against the measure.. Although ,rlefe';'itssrl'a Ministers had assumed that thtsir system of al tel i t n worilei content all classes of the people, the Hon. it et s .'e i r "id, that i ns t ea d o f pro d uc i ng unusua l content . I s e - 1. , 44t1 Produce great agitation.—(Cheers.'nit et er )—The Hon. dirt himself, as we ll as him (Sir C. Wetherell), llardweo , in supp os i ng that any argument lie brought for- Tr uld not same with the House the sae as that of I,titt.her Member, an d wou ld not b e s i m il arly dealt w i th. t he '' 1 1 ". Memb er h ad made a most satisfactory reply to laq l e g f ant and masterly reply of the Hon. M e mb e r f or (Mr, Macaule ) ho had dsplayed such force of I h e - ol: ge and Power of t fancy, as did ; not often come under gtif ti'lervation of the House ; and he (Sir C. Wetherell) Ne i `Pght it w ou ld b e a little clog and impediment to tkt, stranchisement of incompetent horoughs—(Hear)— t,NO,, that he found, and he should be glad to know the il4 - 1 :, the exception, that the borough of Caine was jeatet left the of the disqualifying list, and was not b o d I se 'lke other boroughs.—(licar.)—lie was oun t Ppo se se that Ministers had some reason to allege for th is from the measure, founded on the principle t e ' lit e '441 justice, and that it was not an act of gross par ii.-(llear)—but none had been stated.—(Hear.)— ~ •er, ' t rt igl e re z and repeated, that no gentleman had stated a to Ntli, n whY Caine should be retained, whilst other A t i t ie ,I.'et"e to be disfranchised.—(Hea!-.)—Let, then, u'o Alinister get up and state it ; but Ca I ,. ne "r t e sOre l ere rather shy of corning into the field. lies, e4thaeli Ministers were shy : they let their friends be -Ith feenihattle it fore and aft, and they received . tbe re e l ; 41d i front; but no Aliuister would rise and enter . 1 1 , 1 , Person. Therefore, if there had been no part (•:r this:: Person, Borne Minister get up and state the reasons te'.'ll,,,ofia're,e,pt.ion, and rescue the Cabinet from the suspi- Ilse% "ality.—( wouldnow call the at- Hear. )—He til e ne t , a,4 1 .!'._e house to the subject immediately , before it. 0 r e , ere, that in long debates, elegance was too apt b.gat,tioallWaY with accuracy.—(" Hear," and a cry of ep ok tie The Hon. anti Learned Gentleman paused.) bet a Member who raised that cry, and who never Lrh• I ,; e lb desire to withhold him from a digression of `r i e n - ,, s T Did the Hon. Member who cried " hear" ford -4 6 8 . 1 t "b" and who said nothing else, and never af 'ciii t hat 4 l / 4 ' an opportunity' to reciprocate the cries,- 1, no- Member behind the chair—(oh .)—sup esi,:s"-iit h e t (licar.)—lt red , , would not pursue the sub eec _ ti ' t h e tnerl, t t his Bill of the Military Pay -6° b 4 and , o roughs were to he i and the right of sending 120 Members to Par that 47 were to lose one Member each, and this 1.10714ne01e that 168 Members were to be ejected from tei ' ,l l l aq lie (Sir C. Wetherell) lid not wish to call wophat ti: ) ." e naive term, but as a great man (Mr. Locke) V . 4 tall thi n should be called by their right names, lie 4, ) it by the name of " Corporation robbery."__ I), r il lbc t Sixty corporations were to be robbed of IVO h e No:: arid forty-seven were to be robbed of one Mem ent4thert „ 18 Members were to he annihilated ; 168 es o 'vet e , . t hee, t hat i to no longer• than this I'arliament existed, to t he 114 aZ it ' a.- -(Cheers.) How would this sweeping t he eet the nerves of the lion. the First Lord of Of ,t 1. 61: 41 tY, who had told them,—not in violation of t ott e d I l i ou ges of Parliament, not in breach of the orders th et e,”---but who had, he would say, just inti °lfitioll le rejection of this measure might lead to a t i , t !to he taken Parliament ? So much for the 168 Alm i'erl:ll rnaa, aketi a way; but then there was a sort of resti tekke44 ;,e'reept that there were to be sixty-two 'ell th e , 0 ,7 1-hit.we than there were now. But did this tri n , n erY less ? Was it less a measure of robbery 14' p.. "f tbey took from A. 11 and C. D. and gave a ka :tee . Pie i et s " the House was to he composed of . sixty enA ark th t lih than at present? This cutting off, this at If Members was an odd sort of a thing._ If w ho "h3alneant to satisfy the class whom the Hon. I 'iti t e l !Rht b e _ -I n inet spoli . en took under his vigilant b ut t n ' tented with such a change of the elective t ut P,ad e,, e _ 0 . reformer yet, still hiss a reforming Ca ;liMosluced a plan of Reform which began l'jt --(Ch eers-) This was a plan for which flykih e ," Present Cabinet deserved the credit he pre tt%e.,,_ttatiet ,f.' t th o e f ANitilmee and Co.—(Order.) The present ,r ) . to hay Lord anti his associates, then, who •the his . ee ed upon the precedent in y Ce, aeld Co. el' had been set, by Cromwell, Fairfax, relit,''.?. .-(Cheers.) Those worthy reeicides etl4oitee'„and this u ng the nureiber of Members of the isi the ' a Plan of cutting off the boroughs and ‘t'''t44litY, nu Plan of Member, had not the merit of e i fie it „. th te i eh d as almost the same in form, in sub nelPle, as the radical system of Reform eon; introduced by regicides, when they este- L'te g hat t h e in England.—(Cheers.) Yet tt a ~ rolee. object of the measure was to preserve irrititlub"B--(llear.) Conservation was to 17,t4tie:14ernivetii: aYster n - -(Hear)—it was to preyent t ka and to establish a system of repre itn,tieri_ k e an, °with the prerogatives of the Crown, tote}! of t h e '.she Co nstitution, the exercise of the kertotty:f thrieocznotfryL;ords, and without danger to yet this plan for a constitu /vent to destroy the balance of the Con ti tution, the church, and the prerogatives of the Crown.— ( Hear, hear. ).---Was it not so ? „If not, let some one con tradict it ; if it was, let no one say that the measure of 1643 was not equally mischb vous, and equally subversive of constitutional rights and franchises when promulgated i n 1831.—(Cheers.) But his wish was to coefine his observations as Notch as possible to tie topics which arose immediately out of the measure. Gentlemen on the other side said, " Those who oppose this Bill must be prepared to negative the possibility of Reform." He (Sir C. Wetherell) was one of the number who opposed this Bill ; —(Hear)—but he had never said there was no possibility of improving our representative system.—(Hear.) He had never said we could not improve our election law, or introduce any practical improvement into the system in general ; he had never said that this could not be done by a legal and gradual course of dealing with cases as they occurred ; he was not of the number of those, though the gentlemen opposite, by what he would call a kind of trick in argument, said, " unless you accede to any plan which is produced by Government, you must contend that there is no possibility of Reform." This might he very good logic in Downing-street, but it was not so in the House of Commons,—to say that any person who opposed a specific plan which emanated from Go vernment, must necessarily assert that it was not possible to improve our Constitution. But that was the dilemma in which the gentlemen on the other side wished to place those who differed from their opinion ; that was the fidlacy on which they relied,—that those who opposed their plan opposed every plan. Why, if that logic was used in a baker's shop, a hammer would be called for, and it would be treated like a spurious shilling, and nailed to the counter. (Loud laughter.) He had heard of Hon. Members, in furtherance of this measure, perambulating the broad streets of Marylebone. Why that logic would not du there. They had taken under their protection the Tower Hamlets, and Wapping and Shadwell ; the logic would not go down even there. He would now recall the House to the position of the question ; and he concurred with the Hon. Baronet (Sir J. Walsh) who had spoken so well and written so well on this subject, that the question was, whether we were to have a reformed or a totally new Government ; it was not a question of a slight Reform of our constituent body, but whether we should have a con stitutional Government radically,—he meant not the word in a sarcastic but in a logical sense, but also sarcastic— (A laugh)—radically new, atol distinct from the existing force of Government. Did gentlemen recollect how many experimental Governments were now afloat?—(Heir.) Did they recollect that there was a smithy of political blacksmiths, where Constitutions were continually on the anvil, which was at work in making experimental Govern ments for all Europe ?—that there was a question to settle as to a constitution for Greece?—another as tea charter for Portugal ?—that in Belgium there were yet unsettled the re lations of the President and the Representative Government? Did gentlemen recollect what bad taken place in France? Did they recollect that in South America, for the last seven or eight years, new Governments were con tinually appearing ; and :hat, notwithstanding, they had no government there yet.—(Cheers.)—Let him (Sir C. Wetherell) he permitted, as he was in extrentis, to utter the last dying expression of the wish of an expiring man, —he must distinguish his natural death from his civil deatlo—it was, that Great Britain might not he added to the catalogue of experimental states ; and that these visio nary projects—(Cheers)—of his Majesty's Government might not be realized.—(Cheers.)—To the danger likely to result to ourselves from an experimental Government, was to be euperadded the danger in relation to all Europe, which was at present in a state of absolute dissolution.— (Hear. )—Yet this was the time which his Majesty's Mi nisters had chosen to bring forward this experiment, and to stretch out a new Constitution, as if the venerable Con stitution of Great Britain, as it had been handed down to us, had not been undergoing continual improvements, and might still go on receiving such emendations as could be safely and securely made.—(Hear.)—Was this a time when Europe was in disorder, when every thing was at sea,—was this a time to hoist the flag of innovation, and sail on an experimental cruise in search of a new con stitution? Why was the experiment to be made now? Were the Hon. Gentlemen, now on the other side of the House, whose talents he admired, and whose associate he once was,—he alluded to the Foreign Secretary, the President of the Board of Control, the Judge Advocate, and the Clerk of the Ordnance,— were they of a different opinion now from that which they expressed on the 18th of February lest year, when they negatived a plan of Reform introduced by a Noble Marquis opposite, which, in comparison with the present, was parsimony and moderation ?—(Hear, hear.) He (Sir C. Wetherell) had been attacked for obstinately retaining his opinions, and he granted that there might be an error in too great a tenacity in this respect: but there was a still greater error in throwing open the arms to conver sion ; and if he was in fault for retaining his opinion too closely, they were amenable to the charge of relaxation.— So it was: of the Members of the present Cabinet three had last year negatived another plan of Reform, not allow ing even the Bill to be brought in, yet in a few short months they bad joined a Cabinet pledged to Reform ; and although opposed to that measure, they had associated and mixed with the advocates of Reform, and become part of what was now a unanimous consolidated Cabinet. (Hear.) Having shortly alluded to these topics he should now proceed to the main subject before the House. He had said that the plan of the Noble Lord was a Corpora tion robbery; it was a robbery, to the extent he had men tioned, of 168 Members, their privileges, and their fran chises, from a Constitution which would last as long as the world lasted. He was glad to see the Hon. and Learned Attorney-General slid not labour under the sweeping disqualification which bad fallen upon him.— He now represented a place which he (Sir Charles Wetherell) once represented, and if, contrary to his expectation, he should be driven out of the House as Member for Boroughbridee, he might find his way there again as Member for Nottingham. He had taken the liberty to call the measure before the House a Corpora tion-robbery; and as there had been special commissions sent into the country for the trial of machine-breakers, he wished there could be a special commission issued by the Crown for the prevention of corporation-breaking. But his object was to put it to the House, what the powers of the House were on this question. No man could assert of the omnipotence of Parliament, that the acts which, if down by the Crown, were illegal, might not be legal if done by Parliament. But if the Crown could not confis cate a Charter, the Parliament would hardly venture to act upon a different principle. Charters and franchises ought to be as sacred in Parliament as in any Court of Law in the kingdom.—(Hear, hear.) He believed, nay, lie was confident, diet it would be found that the journals of that House did not contain a single precedent for this mon strous act of spoliation—this civil sacrilege : nor would it he found in any case that Parliament ever assumed to it self a power of disfranchising a corporate right—that is, of abrogating any Charter—without a clear act of delin quency having been previously established against it.— (Cheers.) No ; it was not till the present military-law principles, that Corporations were condemned without trial or hearing. He defied the whole Cabinet, and all its deputies, military and civil, to cite a case of any cor poration having its chartered rights abrogated at one fell swoop, without a came of delinquency having been insinu ated against it,—without any form of trial, without any pretext, palliative of such monstrous conduct, without any shadow of argument ; unless, forsooth, the telling them they were bigotted adherents to the laws and usages of the Constitution were received in argument.---:(Cheers.) The course which the present consolidated and unanimous Ca binet proposed to themselves to follow, was not only lop• posed to every recognized principle of law and justice, hut was omitted to every precedent of Parliament. What did they propose to do? Why, no less than without hear ing, without trial, by the mere fiat of their own tyrannical will, to deprive thousands of the rights which they enjoyed under the Constitution. He said they had no precedent ; he corrected himself, there was one. On the Journals of the House would he found, that in the time of Richard an act was passed for disfranchising the borough of Cam bridge. The circumstances which gave rise to this anoma- Imis proceeding at least could not he quoted as a ground for the proceeding of this consolidated and unanimous Cabinet. It was the consequence of the very vi o l ent con d uct o f t h e townspeople against the University —of the town against the gown. The Vice-Chancellor was imprisoned, and the stu dents who attempted his rescue dreadfully beaten. On a representation of the proceedings being mode to that House, as an example it was deemed expedient to confiscate Cam bridge of its corporate charter; but that Parliamentary confiscation was at a subsequent period, as they ell knew, reversed ; so that even that solitary instance of Parliamen tary confiscation would fail the Noble Paymaster as a pre cedent. Then, there hieing no precedent, he should be glad to hear from his Hon. Friend the Attorney-General; the Constitutional legal adviser of the Cabinet, upon what prin ciple of law he would justify the present audacious attack upon the corporate rights of so many of those ridi cu l ed places called small boroughs. He should like to hear from his Hon. and Learned Friend what argument be would sub stitute for the absence of precedent. Indeed, highly as he respected the Requirement and ability of his Hon. Friend, he doubted very much whether even he could holster up this insuperable defect of the great measure of the unanimous and consolidated Cabinet, whom he was, in virtue of his office, bound to supply with a few grains of law,—and much they were wanted—(A laugh)_ _whether even be could lay his finger on a single page of the Journals of that , House which could at all warrant such an act of wholesalm• confiscation—ave, of civil sacrilege. When the Govern ment shall have told them the legal grounds on which his Hon. Friend had recommended—or rather, he should say, sanctioned—for from one so eminent as a lawyer, he could not think so illegal a measure could originate—he should he prepared to meet him. As he was, he would tell him and them, again and again, that their measure was one opposed to every principle of law and jostice—justice—teas a mea sure whirls no Cabin e t with which the history of this country had made us acquainted could have sanctioned. It was a measure which only some Crozne:ellian band, ruthless of all law, and of all those usages which the Con stitution had preserved for ages, could have ventured to propose as a r e m e dy for any compl mint of the public mind. the again would ask this unanimous and consolidated Cabinet, or any of its Deputies, to answer this simple question ;___When was there ever committed—where was the instance—wh at constitutional precedent was there for ao gross en act of injustice, as, by one compendious and confiscating measure of the Noble Military Paymaster to deprive whole towns and individuals, without a singl e ' crime being alleged against them—without warning, with out any species of 'trial whatever—of their most sacred rights as English freemen ?—( Hear.) H in deed, expect did not, to be referred for precedents for this wholesale measure of spoliation to the confiscating times of Henry the Eighth. That Monarch, they all knew, had ef fected extensive sFoliations of monastic property ; but then he did it openly, as an act of rude, despotical spolia tion, wholly opposed to every usage and then recognised principle, civil and religious. His were the acts of a violent despot ; pray, would they be cited as a case in point, justifying the Noble Paymaster's equally wholesale intended spoliation ? Would the machinery of Henry be adopted to attain the same end ? That Monarch had laid his hands on several large abbeys, the heads of which re sisted, as far as they were able, his rude violence. What did he do? He indicted them as traitors, anti thus com pelled them into what was called a surrender of their charters. This was robbery secundum artem, not only in dependent of all law, but opposed to every principle. In the present case, this mockery ef a surrender of chartered rights would not, it seemed, he had recourse to ; and by a plan still more iniquitous, if possible, than the uncon stitutional spoliations of Henry VIII., the chartered rights of 60 boroughs, returning Members to that House, were, without trial, without offence, without any pretext what soever, to be taken away at the will or caprice of a Cabinet theorist. The lion. and Learned Member then proceeded to say, that if he were wrong in his assertion that Mini sters had no precedent for the present measure, he would acknowledge his error if set right : but he believed that he should not. Ile asked for explanation on this point; he wished to know by what fiction of law, by what theo retical arrogance, by what sophistry could this measure be justified? To be sure they were told that they were bigots, for that, it appears, must be the future name of that once honourable title of Tory. Well, ellen, as it would be supposed he was only quoting a bigot's opi nion were he to cite the authority of any distinguished advocate of Tory principles, lie should like to hear what 3lr. Fox, the great Whig leader, thought on the subject of Parliamentary confiscation. The opinions of that eminent individual had already been referred to by the Noble Member fur Yorkshire. Now, though lie was far front being a blind adherent to the doctrines so ably ad vocated by Mr. Fox on very many subjects of great public interest, he still thought the unbiassed, calm, and unin fluenced-by-party-motives opinion of so experienced a statesman, well worthy of attention from his veriest po litical opponent. It might be remembered, that in conse quence of some riotous proceeding . which took place at an election at Nottingham, it was proposed to disfranchise such of the electors as had been the greatest delinquents on the occasion. To be sure the occurrence was rather droll after all—if droll it would be considered now-a days. There was a procession in which a dame, not over and above distinguished by the immaculate purity of her habits, was paraded as the Goddess of Reason.—(Laugh ter)—there being the proper accompanying paraphernalia of tri-colours, of the fashionable colours of the day. Well, the goddess was paraded in great pomp, and with a great crowd of enlightened worshippers, till the procession was interrupted by the refusal of some gentlemen of the Tory interest—bigots, according to the new-fangled doc trine of the Noble Paymaster-Deputy of the unanimous and consolidated Cabinet—(hear, and laughter)—to pay divine homage to the strumpet goddess, for which bigotted refusal they were told they should have all their coats spencered.—(Laughter.)—The matter came before that House, and after a long discussion, Mr. Fox gave it as his opinion that he would oppose any measure of disfranchisement on the ground that the " Bill would be a bed precedent, because if followed up it would not leave an existing corporation in existence."—(hear, hear.) Such was the opinion of Mr. Fox,—an opinion which he knew not how his Hon. and Learned Friend the present Member for Nottingham could get over. He had just been reminded that Mr. Fox was also opposed t o th e disfranchisement of Shoreham, because he thought, and that justly, that the conduct of the guilty electors in that borough should not be visited upon the innocent ; and on that occasion an individual whose opinion but seldom chimed with Mr. Fox's, divided with Mr. Fox—namely, the present Earl of Eldon.—(Hear.) The Hon. and Learned Member repeated his objection to the measure of its being opposed to the uniform laws and usages of Par liament, and he called upon the Members of the unanimous and consolidated Cabinet and all its deputies, civil and mi litary, aided by his Hon. Friend 'the Attorney-General to boot, to quote a single instance justifying such a monstrous act of spoliation of the•chartered rights of corporations as old as the Constitution itself. How did the Noble Pay master mean to justify his disfranchising, at one fell swoop, not less than 168 seats in that House? Should such a measure,—such a daring violation of the principles of the Constitution,—such a flagrant breach of all constitutional rights, be sanctioned to suit the views of any mere arbi trary theory?—(llear, hear.) Was a Cabinet, now by accident, and for this occasion only, unanimous and con solidated, to propose for the deliberate sanction of Par liament, that that House, which, up to the present mo ment front its institution, was essentially a conservative body, should so fling aside all its usual characteristic at , tributes, and become the greedy spoliator of so many long-established chartered corporations? Where, if once the principle of charter spoliation he admitted, were they to stop? Did the Hon. Alderman (Waithman) behind hint recollect anything of the quo errata robbery of the corporation of the city of London's charter in the time of Charles 11. ?—(A laugh. )—lf he did, then hie rote was, to use a homely expression, as surely nailed down against the present scheme of the Noble Paymaster as he (Sir C. Wetherell) had nailed down the spurious coinage which the military deputy of the cabinet had given them by way of argument. And why did he thus count on the Honourable Alderman's voting with him, simply on the old maxim )iodic eras tibi—what may succeed to do with respect to some obscure borough, may be tried with equal success to-morrow with the corporation of London itself ? And this brought him to his own imme diate case so far as he might be affected by the disfran chinement of Boroughbridge. The Hon. Alderman might recollect that the attempt upon the rights of the Corpo ration of the City of London, in the time of Charles IL, was made by the then Attorney-General, Sir Robert Sawyer. For that daring violation of constitutional right Sir Robert was expelled from that House by a subsequent Parliament—(Hear, hear)—and he ended hia days, a* it was . to be hoped n on e o f his ilici,essors ever world, -ig notrAnyear, and l aug h ter .) N ow it might happen that he (Sir C. Wetherell) wenid not again sit for-Bo roughbridge, but his ease would be ronch ‘etter than :sir Robert Sawypr's as it was one thing not to be elected for a place, and another to he turned out of the House by the :Tee ( tit A ll his objections Time Hon: and Learned Member , again to the Serpant by the shoulder. mea sure, that It wow(' be a violation of all chartered rights, wholly unsupported by precedents, and one of the conse quences of which, to all exi st it ts Corporate rights, it would be impoestb.e to foresee. L e t the House ' pause be fore it agreed to such a mischievous and most unconsti, tutional measure. It should not be for a moment ten, that that the Chttrch, she Established Church of this country, was a chartered body; that the tenure of the Peerage was of toe same character ; that the Bank of England and the East India Company, and every other greet establishment of the country, possessed all their rights and property; and utility, ansi value, public and pri vate, individttal and aggregate, tinder a charter—(Hear) — which, like that of the about-to-be -confiscated boroughs, might be at once violated if the dangerous precedent be once supinely ad.notted.—(Hear.) Disfr anc hi se w i t h ou t a crime alleged, without a tri a l, w i t h out even the mockery of a form of justice, the least borough in the kingdom, and you open the door to the disfranchi sement o f t h e cor poration of the city of London itself. Where was the distinction ? Would any lawyer in that House, however acute, point out any even which a legal fiction would sanc tion ; would any statesman specify the limit beyond which the disfranchising principle of the bill wou ld not exten d ; would any man who heard him dare to say that the prin ciple which admitted that one corporation, not guilty of gross misconduct, might be deprived of its chartered rights solemnly guaranteed by the Legislature in its deliberative t c h ap is ac po it i y ;it w ou ld not equally apply to all the other corpo rate bodies ?.__(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member dwelt on at considerable length. He would take hie stand on this insuperable objection to the principles of the • Rill, without entering into an examination of its provi-• sions. It was a measure which would be no remedy for the evils of which the public complained, and the inevit able effect would be to divide the country into two great parties opposed to each other—those who -had votes, and those who had none,—and each dissatisfied with what he had not.—(Heat.) And was this the great healing mea sure of the unanimous and consolidated cabinet who agreed to support one day what they wets individually op posed to the day before? Was this the oil that was to allay the troubled waters of the public mind ? 'Why it was plain that its only effect would be to aggravate the ills which it was pretended to remedy tenfold. Let them consider the dismay which such a daring measure of spoliation would produce among all classes of the ;tom munity. The monied men were anxions for the safety of their property, now menaced by this mon strous charter-ilestrerying scheme : the landed in terest were naturally sqileamish fir their well-being : And the church were fearfully awake to the daserroes consequence to their rights of this most unconstitutional and right-destroying innovation. They knew too well that the men who coolly set at nought or destroy the ar chive, of a town-hall, would not much hesitate to cross the portals of a church door—(Hear, hear)—and there fore they feel darns for themselves and the country. And who did Ministers expect to satisfy by their spoliation ? Not the reforming public out of doors, for their cry was, " give as more representatives, we have not enough," while so far from adding to the number of that House, the Noble Military Deputy's scheme went to lessen the number by sixty-two.—(Hear, hear.) So, when the reforming public asked for a plus remedy, this popular, consolidated, and unanimous Cabinet gave them a minus one. Then what, he asked, was the mode by which this amorphous body proposed to carry their iniquitous mea sure? Why, neither more nor less than a meat audacious threat to dissolve Parliament in the event of their failure. (Loud cries of " hear.") Now he must say, with re spect to this most unconstitutional and insolent menace, that the man who would be influenced by it in his vote on the present momentous occasion, would be nothing less thin a rebel to his country.—(Cheers.) The man, he repeated whom such a threat, uttered by any Government, particularly by one so vacillating and individually opposed, and only united in this one monstrous measure of whole sa,le spoliation, would iufluenee---was a man wholly un worthy of the name of a British senator. Was a recreant in morals, was a man wholly deaf to the call of conscience, and of English liberty.—(Cheers.) Look at the ig noble situation, teem, in which it would place the House even with respect to their common-sense consistency. The Bill proposes to disfranchise a large number of seats, on the ground that these seats are foul excrescences ; if it passes, it calls upon the House to prononnce a stigma upon itself of the blackest dye -. (Hear, hear)—it actually calls upon the House of Commons to dissolve itself, on the alle gation that it is not actually what it states itself to be,— the representatives of the people.—(This sentiment was cheered by both sides of the House, as favourable to both sides of the question.) Then the dilemma the House would be placed in, should the Bill not pass into a law, would be almost as had. Was, he asked, all faith in legis lative charters to be thus destroyed for ever in this country, in obedience to an arbitrary theory ?—(Hear.) Somebody asked Nat Lee, in one of his frenzies, what was a charter ? He answered, nothing but a bit of scribbled parchment ; and so, it should seem, with the present con solidated and unanimous Cabinet with respect to the cor porate rights of boroughs.—(Hear, hear.) They had evinced a more becoming respect for public opinion in abandoning the proposed transfer duty, so opposed to law and usage, and why violate both with respect to the right of returning Members to that House ? And this, forsooth, was the great remedy for all the ills the country laboured under. Ile should like to hear how the Right Hon. the First Lord of the Admiralty would explain at Cockermouth to his constituents his conduct since he last addressed them. On that occasion retrenchment unli mited was to be the order of the day,—all burdensome taxes to the middle and poorer classes were to be re moved, and the Constitution was to he restored to its ancient splendour, by a full and satisfactory measure of Reform. Now what answer could the Right Ho nourable Baronet make to one of his agricultural con • stituents, if thus accosted by Well, Sir James —(A laugh)—have you taken off the malt tax?"— Hear, and laughter.) " No," quoth the Right Hon. Baronet. " Have you," rejoins the farmer, " at least, taken off the assessed taxes?"—(Hear.) " No," again quoth the First Lord of the Admiralty—(Hear, hear, and laughter)—" the House of Commons and a sense of duty prevented me."—(Hear.) " Then," again quoth time farmer, " since you have neither repealed the malt-tax, nor the assessed taxes, what the d-1 have you done ?" (Laughter.) " Why, we have not, to be sure, reduced much taxes, but to make amends we have taken off sixty two Members."—(Continued laughter.) And the merry conceit might pass on the hustings, as a redemption of all his pledges of retrenchment, and all that sort of thing.— (Hear, and a laugh) They most certainly proposed a pretty considerable and somewhat novel species of re trenchment as a remedy for the ills of the country, re. minding one of the process of that eminent practitioner Mr. St. John Long.—(A laugh.) They found one sore a ' grievance, and they established a raw—,(Great laughter) —by which they made the whole surface a mass of sores, —(Hear and laughter)—and this they called Reform. The farmer to whom he alluded on the hustings at Cocker month, finding that the promises of reduction of the Civil List, of repeal of the assessed or malt taxes, all thus ended in lessening the number of representatives in that House, would very naturally scrutinize the mode by which this last reduction was to be effected. He hoped that some Member of the Cabinet would rise and explain the sys tem of Reform which wan going to amputate no less than sixty-two Members of Parliament. He had now per formed,and he trusted within seasonable limits, that duty which he owed to himself, to the British public, and to the House of Commons , in snaking the observations upon this Bill, wh i c h I, e had found himself comp e ll e d t o ma k e , an d he had now but a few words more to utter. There existed in Cromwell's time a purge of the House of Commons.— LL ;sr and cheering.)—The gentlemen on the op posite side of the House were close. imitators of the Crom wellian systems not only of hi s system o f P arl i amentary Reform, but also of his sanatory purgative system ; for they were prepared to expel, by one strong dose, no less than 16S Members of that House. He did not know what name he oug ht to att ach to this specific ; for he had not conceived i t p ossible th at the country would see process a second ti me. W i th i n the last ve name of Russell's er, the House had b een prom i sed w i th a it as no name had y et b een attac h ed, h e pt r ,3h e ,uo p rrue e ge t l et i a o ati n tost :a o ,env f hhdbo s ning at cheering fot some time.)—Yes, heetc, purge.—(R oars o f laughter, principle of the Bill was republi f(dCliheeers from the Opposition benches, would call this Bill, Russell's Purge of Parliament. " No, no," from the Ministerial.)—He said c ( a C n he itt ers it . s )-- ba l s t of it was destructive of all property, of privilege', and that the same arbitrary thatd cr t i i t: e s o p f riticiple 11 d a majority violence w hi c h expelled Members Alms that ' he time of the Commonwealth, was now, after House. t of a centorr from the Revolution, during which the lapse all right, of all the population had enjoyed greater happiness than waseverenjoyed by any population under Heaven, proceeding to expose the House of Commons again to the nauseous • c oetimeut of a repetition of Pride's pitrge.--(Cileers.) The ATTORNEY-GENERAL rose amid loud cries of Adjourn," which continued for some minute-a, and pre vented bites froth obtaining a hearing. Although he was unwilling to persevere in addressing the House after a wish had been expressed f or an a dj ournment— (L ou d cr i es o f if Adjourn," were again repeated)—he thought that the m e forward by hi s H on. an d L earne d F r i en d w h o spo k e Man n e r in Athiell he had been personally called upon to co last, would obtain him a hearing in any: assembly of En glish gentlemeia which had heard the challenge. They had beard of a tyratMieal Attorney-General who had been b an ded to the door by the Serjeant at Arms, and had been driven ignominiously from the House of Commons. Ile m ust own that he was much surprised that his Hon. and Learned Friend, when he anticipated his own dying speech in that House, should choose to pair off with so detestable a n officer, as that officer was to whom his Hon. and Learned Friend had likened him (the Attorney-General.) Really, if hia Hots. and Learned Friend had no closer analogy than this to produce.—(R.eiteratad cries of " adjourn.")—He begged leave to ask Hon. Gentlemen whether it was in tended that they should on all future occasions adjourn at ball-past twelve o'clock ? If that were to be made a rule, he would not persist in addressing the House at present ; but if it were, he wished to know how many nights they ( h e Cr was s of consultingGo O n ihe go best o n. s ' intended to sa cr ifi ce to t h e di scuss i on o f this questio n ? Were Hon. M em b ers to b e preven t e d from speaki ng b e - ca use the clo c k was then po i nt i ng to h a lf-p as t t we l ve ? — 'atng of Heas itssurteimd ethhey requestingHousetlsat to be permitted to speak at this stage of the discussion. He would beg leave to tell his Hors. and Learned Friend that no two eases could be more unlike than those which he had endeavoured to assimilate together. He admired the good humour with which his lion. and Learned Friend had compared the purification of the representative s ystem, which this Bill attempted to -accomplish, to the two purges of the House which took place in Cromwell's times and to the proceedings on the quo warranios which took place in the teigns of Chalks 11. and James IL, but he must remind his Hon. Friend that though they might prove a contrast, they never could bear any analogy to each other. It was with astonishment that he heard his Hon. and Learned Friend, who was well versed in the history of his country and of its laws, mike so singular an assertion ; and he could not recount lbr it, even when hr took into his consideration all the excitement under which his lion. and Learned Friend evidently lithottred. His Hon. and Learned Friend had said that this plan of Beform was like Cromwell's purge. What his Hon e and Learned Friend meant by venturing such an observation, he could not pretend to divine. Did he re collect an istithority that hail aeways heel greet weight in the Unieereity of Oxford, and that must be well !shown to hie lion. and Learned Frier:a ? Lord Clarendon, in de ecriliing the plan of Reform which Cromwell brought for ward, raid that it was worthy of imitation ley other par ties.—(Loud cries of " Hear.")—Surely his Pon. and Learned Friend did not meaer So say that Colonel pride's purge had any thing to do with Crime:well's system o= Re fetin The periods of time at which they eteurred were very difleieets h was at a later period than cadenel Pride's purge, wheii, Weeder the Government of Cromwell, a conservative plan was offeteel tt that House to preserve the three estates of the realio,—not to pleaerr , : the person of the notector, but to preserve the three estalca of the realm as they exist at r Tesent,—and that plan had no re eemblince to the purge of Colonel Pride, when the sol diers stepped iwo the House and catr`wd the mace away front the table. Now, as to the quo recieeontee. The quo ft:to - T(200.1 took away certain rights from corporate undies ; but what right! did this Bill deprive them of e The power of voting is no municipal right. The power of selling a vote to a Duke or a Beer; or to a Duke's no minee or a Peer's nominee, however palateable soil dee liehtful it might appear to Hon. Gentlemen opposite, was not a reason why a corporate jurisdittion was established in an; borough.—(Hear, hear.)—That certainly teas not the primary ehject for which borough Cueporations were formed ; fot hie Hon. and Learned Ft it nd, the Member for Caine, had proved in a speech, which was yet tingling in their tare, end which would dwell in their no mories so long as their` wreneories lasted —(Loud cries of " Hear")—that the principle on r•hich the right of representation was originally granted to the people of England, was the very principle on which they were now going to extend it to that portion of the people which was at present without it.—(Hear.)—He would now put a question to his Hon. and Learned Friend who had walked that evening with appirent great delight at his own legislative funeral. " Merrict tears laughter never shed" than those which his lion. and Learned Friend and his hand of merry mourners had poured upon his bier. He was happy to see his lion. and Learned Friend disporting with such hilarity about his own grave. —(A laugh.)—He and his friends mnst, one and ail, be great philosophers, for they seemed overcome with joy in having an opportunity to make that sacrifice to the public which its welfare demanded.—(Laughter and cries of " No.")—lie would ask his lion. and Learned Friend, and those who were then acting with him, whether there was to he any Reform at all? There was not one argument which they had advanced that evening, which had not gone to the extent that no Reform at all was to be made in the constitution of the Commons house of Parliament.— (" No, no," from the Opposition.)—He did not say that such wait the object of the gentlemen who had used the arguments, but it was unquestionably the point to which all their arguments tended. His Hon. and Learned Friend had said that he was no enemy to representative ovement.—(Hear.)—When, where, hots', in what shape, had his Hon. and Learned Friend ever professed himself a friend to it? Ile (the Attorney-General) had never heard such a sentiment from his Ham and Learned Friend before—it was brought forward on the present oc casion to break with the public the force of the plan of Reform whirls Government had now brought forward : it certainly was not the practical view, which his Hon. and Learned Friend and his habitue' political Friends were accustomed to take on the subject, and if it bad recently become their view, it was be cause they had been driven to it by the force of public opinion. —(Loud cheers.)—lf they were advocates to any extent, would they inform him what their plan was, and how far it went ? if his Hon. and Learned Friend had ever brought forward any plan of Reform, or had expressed a desire to promote it before that night, it was a fact in his Hon. and Learned Friend's history which he had by some strange fatality completely overlooked. Unless his lion, and Learned Friend and his political as sociates meant to Si)' that the miserable plan of disfran chising Evesham and East Retford seas their plan of Re form, and was one with which the public ought to be satisfied, he knew of no plan of Reform which they had ever patronized. That because in Evesham money had been paid to the electors, and the payment of it had been discovered by a Committee formed of Members who had only not been found nut in narking such payments— (Hear, and a laugh)—that because they were ready in such cases to make the most vigilant inquiry into the number of poor wretches who had contaminated their fingers with the bribes held out to them by their wealthy tempters—that because they were willing to do this, they were to represent themselves friendly to Reform, was a project against which he, as an honest matt, felt bound to enter his protest.—(Cheers.)—He looked upon a plan of Reform so difficult, and distant of execution, to be a need less expence of money and of time, and an limiting hypo crisy to the people at large.—(Great cheering.)—Even the Noble Duke, who on the first day of this Session had declared himself hostile to all Reform, and had asserted that nothing could be devised better than the present sys tem of representation—even he was anxious in the last Session of Parliament to have the Bill for the dis franchisement of East Retford pressed through both Houses, in the hope that it would he a Reform which would satisfy the mind of the public. Since that time the voice of the public had made itself heard in every part of the kingdom, and it now declared, in accents that could not be mistaken, that any such paltry, equivocating species of Reform would not give satisfac tion.—(Cheers.)—lt appeared to him that the argument which had been brought foward by the Hon. Member for Oxford on a former night, condemned the mode of pro ceeding which his Hon. and Learned Friend wished to heveapplied to delinquent boroughe. His Hon. and Learned Friend, as well as the Hon. Member for Oxford, had de fended our present system of representation, on the ground that it worked well—that its results were beneficial—and that trade, and rank, and ability, obtained entrance into that House through the impure channel of corruption. Perhaps they might ; but then with what consistency • could the advocates of such an argument disfranchise East Retford, and Evesham, and such places, where the door into Parliament was regularly opened to the highest bidder?—(Hear, hear.)—lt was as notorious as the sun at noon-day, that seats in that House were as purchaseable as stalls in Smithfield. Why, then, should they disfran chise the poor man, who had some excuse at least in his poverty, for selling his individual vote, when they permitted the rich man, who had no excuse of poverty to plead, not only to sell his vote, but also to sell the votes of all persons over whom he could exercise the slightest influence?-e-(Hear, hear.)—Mr. Canning had staved off for a time the question of Reform in the year 1822, by throwing into the back ground the abuses of the present system, and by stating that the public mind wee not alive to them. But had he lived now, as un fortunately he did not, could he have used the same lan guage? Certainly not—for the public mind was shocked at these things ; it had taken a nausea at them—to use a term from the vocabulary of his lion. and Learned Friend, from which it could never again be freed by the administra tion of any quack nostrums. He would ask such Hon. Gentlemen as had not yet forgotten the preliminary steps to their late elections, and who recollected the applications which they had received from different electioneering agents to fight the battle of corruption as the third tnen in the dif ferent boroughs, for which they were agents, whether it was possible for men to witness any thing more demoralizing or more disgusting titan the processes by which the poor electors of those boroughs were to he corrupted by their opulent seducers ?_(Hear, hear.) The people of Eng. land had at length discovered that the evil to which such corruption gave birth was no longer to be tolerated.— The Hone of Commons was call e d upon t o re d ress i t , an d he was satisfied that the Members of that House, as English gentlemen, w ou ld not h es i tate to pursue t h e i r in quiries into the practicability of redressing it by passing the present Hear, hear.) If Hon. Gentlemen were inclined to say that no Reform ought to be had, or only much Reform as could be effected by an ex post facto law, or a detestable Bill of pains and penalties, the country knew what it had to expect from them ; but if they said that Reform was necessary, hut that this plan of Reform was not satisfactory, then he would ask them to try their hands at producing a scheme which would give them less annoyance, and would prove more beneficial to the public.—( ll !ar, hear.) li e was w illi ng t o take his share of responsibility —and in saying so he was taking upon himself a share of credit that did not rightly belong to him—for having assi s t e d i n carry i ng i n t o e ffect, in his professional capacity, the benevolent intentions of his Majesty's Government. A Noble Lord, in an eloquent s peech which he had made last night, had said of the close boroughs, that although the portal which they afforded for entrance into that House might be com paratively low, honour and integrity might pass in without stooping. H e would tell the Noble Lord that p n o o r t ui se u is , ls hic t . o h s t t i ciap ia, a v t a l I . subject of England.—(Cheers.) that Burke, anti Pitt, and Fox, (Chem) -they only wished to fi n d their way into h on our and integrity did a .- de ns ibhee Parliament ryas o t . ahser every t and other illustrious characters had one and owed their introduction into Parliament to the defects in the constitution of it which his Noble Friend's bill WaS in tended to cure, lat would reply that it was not for the hap piness or glory of those individuals that they had found their way into that House by any other road than that of the free choice of the Commons of England.—(llear.) It happened, strangely enough, that all the opinions of Mr. Fox, which the gentlemen opposite were so fond of quot ing, were delivered by him at time when he was sitting for a close borough,—when he was a Lord of the Admi ralty; and, strange recommendation, when he was even by law incapacitated by his youth from voting in that House. The Attorney-General then proceeded to reply to that part of Sir C. Wetherell's speech in which he had accused the present Government of having brought for ward In their budget a measure which was a violation of public faith. He conteeded that that stamp which they had wished to place on the transfer of stock was not a vio lation of acts of Parliament sanctioning the contracts of the Government with the loan contractors ; hut supposing for the sake of argument that it were, the charge of a violation of faith with the public creditor, came with a very bad grace from those who had reduced the five per cents. to three per cents. and had left no eption, for though there was a nominal, there was no real option, to the re duction.—(Hear, iol a l h 'e s a , r. h ) e obs e rved il e trustees of widows and orphans, but to accede to that 'er i n t g h that as th e t the subject t le o f L Latta had referred to his sitting in Parliament for a close bo rough, he would say a few words on that subject. In the year ISIS, he was given to understood that there was a wish that he should be in Parliament. Having heard that there was at that time a vacancy in the town which he had now the honour to represent, he determined to offer himself to the electors. It hap pened that there was no vacancy. A seat, however, was offerer: him for the borough of Wareham ; and, ta hey shame be it spoken, he had not had virtue to resist it. He should have reeptected himself more than he then did lied he ken in postession of virtue enough to resist it. He wished it to be distinctly understood, that a seat for a close borough was not desirable a place as an independent spirit would wish to obtain. Nothing could be more kind and liberal than the conduct of those who gave him a seat for that borough ; but at the end of time two first sessions in which he sat in Parliament, there was a dissolution, and then he found, that in the opinions of those who had given him his seat, be had been found wanting.---(Hraie There was then no nomination seat seat for him , and if the town of Nottingham had not sent a deputation to him t o come forwerd, he should have been out of Parliament. So far from such a Neat being all joy, he could assure the House that it was quite the reverse. Could there, indeed, be any thing more unpleasant than the idea of having a secret Council always sitting upon your conduct, anti deter mining upon each vote, whether you ought to be permitted I to retain your seat in Parliament ?—(Hear, hear.) He made no complaint against !how who gave him his seat ; but when lie contrasted his situation as Member for a close borough, with his situation as Member for Nottingham, in which lie enjoyed the confidence of thousands, lie felt that there was 110 more comparison to 1w made between them than between the crumbling walls of Ahlborongh anti the most stately and magnificent palace in Eng land.--(Loud cheers.) His Hon. and Learned Friend was now advent from the House, or else he would have en deavoured to show, that there were circumstances in hie (Sir C. Wetherell's) history, which forcibly illustrated his argument on thin point.—(Hear.) After some other observations, which our Limits prevent us from reporting, the Attorney-General proceeded to say, that he had the authority of Burke, and Pitt, and Fox, and Lord Chatham in his best and proudest day, that Reform in the House of Commons was absolutely necessary for the preservation c f the internal quiet of the country. The observation of Lord Chatham had been alluded to already in the course of the debate. The remark of Mr. Pitt was equable well known. He had said that " without Reform no honest man \voids be, or could be, a Minister ;" and at a subse, quent period of Mr. Pitt's life, when Mr. Fox reminded him of that speech, he said " that he (Mr. Pitt) had lived to carry his own prediction into effect." This occurred in the year 1797, and he recollected that when he first heard it, it made a strong impreasion on his mind. lie could ' not help reflecting how whimsical it was, that Mr. Pitt should have gained the confidence of the House of Com mons, after he had failed in all the propositions which hue had made to it, and that he could not get the same House to give him credit, when be bail lived to verify his own predic:ion.—(Cheers and laughter.) Every person who was acquainted with the works of Mr. Burke—and what man of education was not ?—must be aware that in his celebrated speech for the conciliation of our differences with the American colonies, he had quoted the preamble of the Act of the 27th Henry VIII., by which the power of sending two knights of the shire as their representatives to Parliament, was given to the freeholders of the county of Chester. It was singular enough that .\ 'r. Burke, who at the close of his life was the decided enemy to all innova tinn, however singular, should have referred to that pre amble; and it was, perhaps, if possible, still more singu lar, that Henry VIII., time most arbitrary and despotic Monarch that ever sat on the throne of England, should have recognized the value of the representative system, and should have considered it of importance in attaching the affection of the people of England to the throne. The preamble to that Act wait as follows :—" \Vhereas, the said county palatine of Chester is and hath been always hitherto exempt, excluded, and separated out and from the High Court of Parliament, to have any knights and bur gesses within the said Court; by reason whereof the said inhabitants have hitherto sustained manifold disherisons, loss-s, and t4amages, as well in their lands, goods, and bodies, as in the good, civil, anti politic governance anti maintenance of the commonwealth of their said country: and forasmuch as the said inhabitants have always hitherto been boned by the Acts and Statutes made and ordained by the King's Highness and his most noble Progenitors, by authority of the said Court, as far forth as other counties, cities, and boroughs have been, that have had their knights anti burgesses within the said Court of Par liament, and yet have had neither knight nor burgess there for the said county palatine; the said inhabitants, for lack thereof, have been oftentimes touched and grieved with Acts and Statutes made within the said Court, as well de rogatory unto tLe most ancient jurisdictions, liberties, and privileges of their &lid county palatine, as prejudicial unto the commonweala.it quietness, rest and peace of his Majesty's most bounden subjects inhabiting within the same." The Act then Renton to state, that the inhabi tants of time county palatine of CLeater should for the fu ture return Members to Parliament. It was in speaking of that Act, that Mr. Burke quoted the well-k Down passage:— Simul alba nautis " Stella refulsit, " Defluit,saxis agitates humor: " (oncidunt venti, •ingiuntque 'tubes, " Et minax (quod sic voluere) pont° " Linda recumbit." Which Mr. Burke translated in his own beautiful language thus—" The day-star of British liberty then rose in the hearts of the people, and all was harmony both within and without." It had ,been thought necessary, however, by some, to contend that Peers ought to have their interests represented in that House, and that it was not inconve nient that they should. If this were so,—why, iet him ask, had not every Peer and Prince of the blood his ac knowledged representative there ? They might have as many representatives in that House as they had domestic chaplains in their own houses, if the law allowed it them. But the law did not allow this, and it was the mere acci dent of Peers having purchase.' boroughs which made it worth while to consult them as to matters which ought to appertain only to Members of that House, properly so called. He contended, that far from being unconstitu tional, it was in strict accordance with the spirit of the Cenatitution to take the elective franchise from decayed and corrupted boroughs and send them to more healthy places. By Mr. Pitt's plan of Parliamentary Reform, as many as forty boroughs would have been got rid of. This had not been forgotten by the gentlemen on the other side of the House, but in recollecting it they had alluded to the compensation which it was :then proposed to make to the owners of those boroughs. Still, however, there was one thing else to be remembered,—namely, that that whatevereslr,nh s t - io o t uclodtilhda compen sationbv ee compensation was a, compulsory compensation, and he forced to contended acceptt thoughtlo ug h t t hteh that epi ~,n e fro l evn r ee e sd o v f cconri t mylo h a e p( aiu,c, p nnet a :l i r oa parties eroi theirs hc.,et c tic o rd n sN c on wb, e ihneg u itm g hdl l . e l i t rvel ti wu b aa e l: paid for that was not illegal, and for d might not be prosecuted under the election e l p t t lt h e r. ‘ i n e v i it su tce og hn i s i :: ;1 0t I te feheeoor. that k t h n te e h e‘ Attorney-Generalt a Press;t b t u h t e r I t, w h ei oughtsome tell twts to be gentlemen b He oank. who le no.f m tlemen that an Attorney-General might find occupation much snore advantageous to the country than proceeding againt those whose very violence prevented their doing mis chief, and only disgusted the people whom it was their object to excite and. to exasperate.—(Cheers..) There were other violators of the law which were much more . d w a h n i g e e k ro w u e s re to w. t o h r e e publicv—there roo=rteddebolticruigrucenuphea.: ment. Let them, therefore , . be it no more ur ii .13 1 an ted d rigida ; fur if a Peer chew Cu interfere, by dam