The Sun. — London, England, 1830-02-19 00:00:00

►e tho before ty(al ing of ►ninal .14t of Wen 6 rs re rencot teritc't erty eon • Act ti nx on o f rutirot 1 r. }-- In• of eight )nve- rfr , rtvil by these rednetions. I also third: that some re duction, in :3 , be made in the. Court i f Session ; but to title I will not pledee myeell. I stn not, however, without hope tint the number et - Judges !tiny he reduced front seven five, although we shall increase their duties; by the trans fer of hnsiness from these other (marts. With respect to the 'Lavin e that will reenit from this, I meet venture to say it will ultimately amount to 10,0001. ; for, in addition to the !laving upon Jo lges' salaries, we shall, by the transfer of the bueieees of the Jury Court to the Court of Session, h" dispense will, the two principal Ci .rks of Session. I here now presented a generel view of the stub jeet to the Homo. ; we shall hare In oly ipportunides of dimctosszrie it in detail, and considering many of those Pont. which, from or leek of teeheicel knowledge, I would hive been unable (had I felt ulieptueed) to lay !before them.—(llietr, bear.)-1 have etriculy confined myself to a ;eviler view of the proposed alterations and reductions whielt I felt would be the most acceptable and intsliigilule to thou , not pireeseeing professional knowledge. And I frost I have eueceediel io allottuing that the measures we eontemplete would hive the c ffeet of improving and render ing more expeditious the administratioo of jit.tice ; and I hop e time [louse will 'ire us credit for being influenced he no motive except the public good in recommending those alterations. Sir, whateeer may be the value set 'limn our institutions, it must sorely be conceded that they Slay h e with propriety :lite, ed, when thet alteration is at tended with an improvement in the moral state, the public Prosperity, and private romforte of the people. And, "rely, Sir, nothing cart tend more strongly to this effect than meeenree calculated to preserve the rights and vindi cate the wrongs of the individuals, as expedition, purity, and dimini•]cecl expellee in the administration of justice must ussure&y ilia —( Load cheers.)—The Right Hon. Secretary euincluilcil by moving for leave to !urine in a Bill to reguilete the epprooriation of the fees to public oflieers in the Courts of Common Law. Ale. BROUGHAM commenced by stating lie would eonfine hinself to a general view of the subject, as many opportunities would ocsur of discussing it in detail. Nothing, he thought, could be better than the Right Hon. Secretary eginnine, and if he differed with him in any pollute hereafter, it would be, because he (Mr. B.) might tot suppose he (Mr. reel) had gone far enough. He would now too rapidly over the various topics touched neon by the Eight lion. Secretary ; and first, ae to the Welsh Jurisdietioe, he was ilecideslly Of opinion that th e time had arrived when it ought to be abolished. The objections to this source of proceeding were twofold-ISt. The increased expense---2d. That in doinge o you we' l l,' abolish a system convenient and good hi practice. Now the answer to the first was obvious, hetaume it appeared front the statement of the Right Hon. Secretary, that even deducting the !salaries of the additional Jede ee of Common Law, there would ultimately he a saying of A,BOOl. He might say, he believed that, upon the whole, there world ultimately be a mitring of 11,800/., be cause there would also he a reduction in the salaries of clerks, prothonotarits, and so forth. Therefore, the first objectio n was met. The other was also answered, and thoa they got rid of all those arguments in favour of a se- Pirat e jurisdiction which were urged whh so much lege nuitr, and certainly with no lack of real.—(Hear, and a l augh.) —Fir the cireemetancce of the case were simply this :—Either the Welsh eyet(in of judicature was or was not better than ours. If it was not (as be suspect e d it Was nor), there was an end to the argument, and they 'should at once aesimilate the administration of justice in the two countries ; lint if the contrary, the reason for this a aeimilation was still stronger, since there could be no pre tence fu r of jecting to extend this more advantageous sys tem to us. Wales would have no right to complain, and the rest of the kingdom would be benefited. One impor tant advantage to he gained by this measure would be an in eteastui purity in the administration of justice ; for if the cieht Welsh Judges were abolished, and two Judges of West-. t nineter HallsuLstituted for them, there did not remain to the Minister the same quantity of Perliamentary influence. Tice away of eight places, though of smaller value, was Ikmore 'useful than the two of hi g h e r e m o lument. nlea there was not the %arm, scope for trafficking in the appointment of Judges in Westminster-Hall as in those • ' V eldt Judges, because seareely Any Minister, however strong his nerves might be, would venture to meet Parlia ment after trafficking in a Judge of Westminster Hall; and indeed, considering the necessity of electing a person of good reputation with the profession, and of proper qualif y:l6one and attainments, he did not believe that, with a watchful country and a watchful Parliament, it was pos sible to make any imp roper or unfair promotion. In the Welsh appointments, however, it was by no means the same, notwithstandin g all the watchfulness of the country and of Parliament. There a :Minister might traffic, and such patronage was most valuable, because the most culpable of being alunsod. Speaking as a legal man, also, he approved of the alteration, since whatever gave Government influence tended to lower the profession ; And he had observed that the hope of a judicial situation in Wales tendril to make many Barristers at least suppress their opinions respecting the acts of the Administration. Therefore he augured that the constitutional effect upon the change would bean increased purity in the administration of justice; and the effect on the legal profession would he to increase its inde pendence. In every view, therefore, political or profes sional, the alteration was the best possible. The next point was the Administration of Justice in Scotland, and in this also be concurred in opinion with the Right Hon. Gentleman. He thought that the number of Scotch Judges, now amounting to twenty, might be advert. tageouely diminished while their salaries were increased, the more especially as it appeared that a saving might thus be ultimately effected. The extent of Ministerial pa tronage would lie diminished, which, at present, was enormous. No mean., he begged to impress upon the Right lion. Gentleman, ought to be spared to uphold the eyste m of Trial by Jury in Scotland; the lawyers there had corns slowly and reluctantly to the system. Men en gaged is Civil business during their lives had a great oh .leetiim to a change in that which had been so long the °hject of their study. Government, therefore, should sup- Port the system with a firm hand ; it hid already improved the administration of justice in Scotland. The expense judicial proceedings was diminished, end they were !ouch ehortened. This was obvious from the cases which h ad lately come up to the High Court of Parliam e nt 'h y no hunger appeared under a mass of paper, It „,! t h which no Judg e coulul grapple. Thi s was t h e Peet cf the investigation of facts by a J ur y. Whil e h . e was on this pert of the subject he would take the nlVertunity of suggesting, that the Act which rendered tt tioteasary to have recourse-to a member of the Scotch ar when the office of a Lord of Session was to be filled 14 1 , , heeaarie the Scotch practitioners had only lately been made acquainted with the practice of Jury Courts, and Were , not, of cour se , as f a mili a r with the r u l es o f ev id ence a%tarly, in e s n?erobers of the English Bar : great diffi cu l ty l ie d euneequence, existed with respect t o th e selec tion of a Lord Advocate ; and though they haul been for tooate enough to have at that time a gentleman in that 'lace who w as at once a S cotc h Ad vocate an d an Ent,,tlali rrister, yet they should consider that, in the event of rt ' i goetion or deceaee, there would be infinite difficulty 1 14 "Pplying his place. In a word, be thought it would most valuable improvement in the Jury Courts to do 4 With the r es t r i c ti on w hi c h confined the choice of bo _tes to th e S co t c h Bar. The Exchequer Court was a N T Court, an d t h e restr i ct i on, I b e li eve, did not o b ta i n t h a The offi ce o f J u d ge th ere m i g h t b e fill e d up f rom hZEnglish B ar , an d ye t as on l y one E ng li s h B arr i ster b ecla promoted there since the Union, although all the 03 : Baron s might have been cleated from this Bar, be w "ended that there was no reason for apprehending there ~N : u1 ( 1 be any endue exercise of influence in other Courts. s cot VY, he believed, could say it was unjust, until sh ' 4 l'd was better aceustoimd to the Jury system, at e Judge in each C•curt should be taken from ~e ; t . t tr - . o gliali B ar. Th ese were the few observations that ed to him during the statement of the Right lion. el oat e i t ArY. As to the rest, lee thought the Right Hon. "nail deceived himself if he fancied the addition of o n , , th "age to eac h o f t h e C ourts i n NiT eetminster Ilall, or Ortodf s : llet . etilnl of th e monopo l y o f barristers i n one C ourt, .ettor s in another, or the improvement of enabling L li d g( ! t " of business to be originated in all th e th ree C our t s , carne "I placing them on the same footing—allowing the 11 ,,, e _ 13 :trrietera, the sauna Solicitors , the same suitors to i r r;_v M all these Courts---would have the effect of creat li.ri;:n (vial division of business before the different Courts. ~.i,,Je ve r, the Right Hon. Gentleman thought other- Peel) to foretell that, even if he (Mr. coeSysru, pi icing Judges of equal talent lend egneli acter in eac h of the Courts, time business would not be eeo . th e f, , fo r th e Ki ng ' s Bench was in posiession ;it was yourite Court; the suitors thronged into it : the best practitioners and the bestwere consequently to hue fout n e tho Judges re. But he repeated, that even if the Judges ;: i . e _l i istribut e d i n the fashion he supposed, the practice inveterat e P , that it never cou ld be correcte d , except tun.lfe m pulPerhap s , h er con ti nue d, th e Ri g ht rte•Secrecoter • YNA not aware of th e grea t increase of as well _l s he Court of Ki ng ' s B enc h — i n B an k b us i ness b een a : he City h ue i neas. The fact wag, there bed eau_ increase in one year of seven or eight thousand , and of course there was a considerable arrear. Now is'nntchteare°reatirrt; of is he observed, God knows there thudlto tise the language common in Westmin sterillall, So iititine are no sooner up than they are dnwn-ngain." deed, thit they bad e pressure of business was there, in-. °n l l some two or threes sittings in a whole vacation, and yet their trifling business was even ' falling off, will' e tli i:nn.;-14,, in the King's Bench had been seven or eight t :rev - , and laughter. ; The more the subj../ t wes smined bite, the more would it become apparen , , tout wihout some slop taken to make it compulsory on pirties t, co into cert•in Courts, no ad vantage equal to thtt which was expected would he de rived from the alteration. To be sure, unless the Courts were nearly equalized, and the other requisite Challgf., were conceded, it weull be a great injustice to put this compulsion on th e suitors ; though even then the injustice would hardly be creator than that now experienced by the peo ple of dilf-rent countries, whose causes were tried at the Assizes by Judges whom they did not select, but who choowe the particular circuits, and in that manner might be said to appoint themselves to try the Causes upon them. Tnese were a few of the observations which struck him upon this :question. He would now only add, that he slannlil reserve his opinion on the merits of the measure, tinti it fairly came before the [louse ; but as far as he he! heard at present, he was gratified in being able to say that he heartily concurred with it. Mr. C. FERGUSSON said there was one point to which he wished to call the attention of the Right Hon. Gentleman, and which he was sorry to . see omitted in the measure now about to be proposed to the House ; he meant a Court which was one of the must important, if not the most important in the kingdom—the Court of Privy Council. He had hoped that the Right Hon. Gentleman would have been prepared to submit some plan to the House respecting that Court, which was row most imper fect, as far as regarded the great objects it had to carry into effect. It was composed of a Judge, generally - of great talents, hut who only occasionally set there when he had little or nothing to do in hi, own Court. It was, in deed, a sort of secondary office, filled by the Mester of the R dls. Yet it was a Court requiring almost above all others the most lea' nod Judges of the land—Judges coenizant of all kinds of causes, and of every sort of law ; instead of which there were often persons forming tl:e Court who were not only ignorant of the particular cases before them, but of all the general law applicable to such causes. He admitted that he had sometimes seen these persons assisted by a Judge of the Court of Admiralty—by an officer who had held a situation in our Foreign Settle ments—and sometimes even by officers connected with the Woods and Forests—and these were the Judges that w , re to decide on the rights of one hundred millions of people. He hoped the Right Hon. Gent. among his laudable en deavours to reform the administration of justice, would at last entitle himself to the gratitude of that great body of rople, by taking into consideration the interests of those whose whole property lay within the power of adjudi cation of this Court. Ho would now advert to one or two other topics, awl refer to the courts in that part of this kingdom in which he would not conceal from the House he felt more interested than in any other—he ateant Scotland, If he had known that this discussion would hare been brought on, he would have provided himself with, the means of showing, that instead of the Judges of the Court of Sec tion enjoying their salaries without labour, there were no men who performed more constant and unrernitted duty than they. He pledged himself, that if ever there should be an occasion for entering into that discussion, he would show that there were no Judges more usefully, meritori ously, and beneficially employed, than these Learned Per sons. He afire. d with the:Hon. Member for Knaresborougb, that the Trial by Jury ought to be upheld in Scotland. lie would not go further at present into the subject with re spect to the ameliorations of the Law of Scotland. He was happy to find that the Consistorial Court was not to be re duced to one Judge. There was no such objectionable trii,l as that before one Judge; and if he were to decide, he would rather aboli,h the Court altogeth e r t h an l eave i t in the hands of one Judge. He could sty with respect to many of the individuals who now sat in that Court, and he said it on the authority of Lord Stowell that the administration of the jurisdictior•. of that Court bad never been exercised with more ability or integrity, or in a more judicial manner. He concurred with the Hon. Member fur Knaresborough, that to the Chief Commissioner of the Jury Court was owing whatever was good in the administration of justice there; and if the present Learned Judge should retire, unless a good English barrister was appointed to succeed him, or to assist his successor, Soot' Ind would lose much of that benefit she might otherwise obtain from the institution of a Jury Court. He recommended, indeed, that some per son conversant with the technicalities and detail of the Jury trials here, and who would enforce that proper strict ness in them which was seen in this country, should assist in the administration of that Court, or Scotland might otherwise lose much of the benefit she had derived from it. He was sorry he could not as the same thing with respect to the forms of the process. Written pleadings he did not think beneficial—they did not abridge the la bour of the Judge, nor make the case clear for his deci sion; while the speech of the advocate was full as long, if not longer than before. He thanked the Right Hon. Gentleman for what he had already done, but there were atill many timings that might require consideration, and opinions ought not as yet to be pledged on the limits to which they might go. With respect to the Welsh jndi_ cature, he thought it would be desirable if the benefit of having English Judges were extend,d into Wales. At the same time he hoped that the wishes of the people of Wales might be consulted, and that their present Courts might not be taken away, except the change was manifestly fur the advantage of tl:e people, who seemed at present to be somewhat inclined to retain their old customs. He thought it important that the Welsh Judges should not retain their seats in that House ; and he hoped the Right Hon. Gentleman would lay down the principle, that no judicial officer whatever should bit there : he did not even except the Master of the Rolls. Mr. HUME thought the system now in operation in Scotland was had, and the sooner it was got rid of the better. lie would only entreat the Right Hon. Gent. not to put 'he country to any further expence, unless it was shown to he absolutely necessary. He believed that if he had now certain Returns from Scotland, for which he would take an early opportunity of moving, he should be able to show that the Scotch Judges did not do more than half the work of the Judges of England. That was the case especially with the Barons; and he believed these Returns would show that not more than ten cases came before the Barons in one year ; and instead of increasing the numbers of the Judges, three out of the four of those he hail mentioned might be dispensed with, and of the others nearly one-half might be reduced. They only sat five months in the year— they began business at ten, and never sat after three o'clock; and their whole employment was so small, that far from thinking there should be any addition to the public expen diture in Scotland on the score of Judges, he was of opinion that the Right Hon. Gent. ought to reduce the ■umber of Judges now existing. When he obtained these Returns, he should be able to prove what he now stated. Mr. C. FERGUSSON, in explanation, did not wish to maintain all things precisely as they were, and lie should himse:f have moved for these Returns if the Hun. Member for Aberdeen bad not anticipated him. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL agreed with those Hon. Gentlemen who said that the greatest consideration was necessary to he applied to each portion of this important subject, and for that reason he thought that some thanks were due to Hon. Gentlemen who had bestowed attention upon them, rather than reproaches for any omission of which they had been guilty. So much was due to the Hon. Member for Knart-sborough. With respect to what had fallen from the Hon. and Learned Member opposite, he must say that his impression was against a compulsory judicial division of the business of the Courts, for it was well known how much parties disliked to quit that Court and those Advocates which they had especially selected. He was old enough to remember when the Court •f Ex chequer, even constituted as it note was, possessed a con siderable practice, and was able to support an exclusive Bar. Undoubtedly its business had now diminished, and the Court of King's Bench now attracted time great tna• jority of suitors ; but he imagined that some cause for that change might be found in the rapidity with which cases could be bromght to trial in the latter Court. Ile only rose for the purpose of giving notice that he intended shortly to propose a Bill for the more effectual adminis tration of justice in England cud Wales, in the discussions on which, he trusted he should have the advantage of the presence of his Hon. and Learned Friend. - Mr. O'CONNELL never heard anything that gave him more satisfaction than the clear and distinct statement of the Right Hon. Gent. ; and instead of being surpr:sed that he could not go more minttely into the technicalities of the subject, it was matter of astonishment that he had been able to compress so much in so short a statement.— There was peace in what he said. It was a clear admission of the necessity for improvement—of the fact, that the Government were not hostile to a change—that they did not even oppose the via inertice of a silent resistance, but that they wished for a reform of notorious and long felt abuses.—(Hear.)—Il e only regretted that when the Cimrt of Admiralty was mentioned, something had not been said of another Court of Admiralty besides that in Scotland.— No doubt it was not forgotten, although it had not been alluded to. He only meant at this moment to take up the quostiou of blending the jurisdiction of the Admiralty with the Consiatorial Court, and giving an equitable juris diction to the Courts of Common Law, and the hope that was held up that there would be a complete amal gamation of all the Courts : so that juttiee could lie ob tained by one simpl e and intelligible mode of proceeding, in stead of a party being compelled to resort to several dif ferent modes of recovering his tight. If a Judge WO fit for one Court, be must be fit for all. .`,e a proof, be refer to the late ~Vtorn, y -Genfq.d, ,olght hav, Chief Justice of the Kin d % Bench, hot Who 'vts Chancellor,—a fact which provd i i,n to be lit for roper Court. —(Hear, hear.)—He did not wish to le,re the Chancery as it now was. Its pro e ess V 72.3 as cumbrous as possible ; and if it were now to be created ab there WWI no one who would rmture. to recommend such a vicious coarse C f prm•ceding as it no g exhibited, and which was rather a nuisance than a lieneiit to the country. He asserted that there ought to be but one simple mole of proceeding for all people in the recovery of their rights. The next thing he should wish to see seas the establish meta of Local Tribunals throughout the country. Why a min in Cornwall or Cumberland was to be compelled, in order to obtain a debt there, to send up to London for a hit r f parchment, irt , l what magic there was in such a process, he knew nat, an-I he should, therefore, wish to see the evil abolished. There were to be Courts for the recovery of small dtbts in every County. Why not Courts for the re covers of large debts ? If the Judge was fit to decide on one, he was equally fit to decide on the other. Surely be !ghoul I not be tell in that House, that the business of the rich and wealthy required a different Judge from the business of the weak and poor. He did not look to London for the establishment in one focus of a number of Courts, with great Liwyers end rich Judges—but he looked for the establishment of a number of Tribunals that would dispense justice in the different counties in the kingdom to their various inhabitants. The third matter which he wished to notice was the subject of special pleading. He was most happy to hear that the technical eel:ern of pleading was to be abolished ; and that its forms were to be reduced to something like common sense. Such forms were an outrage to those who could penetrate their meaning, while they were utterly unintelligible to the mass of mankied.—(llear, hear.)—The Right Hon. Gentle man himself had afforded a proof of their difficulty and unintelligibility, by having been himself unable to go into the minute:details of technical knowledge. Why should there he in this country anything in the laws with which that Right Hon. Gentleman was unable to make himself fully acquainted ?—(Hear.)—Was it not disgraceful to the laws that a gentleman of his talents and industry should be igno rant of a very material part of them?—(Hear.)—lf it were thus, why not abolish the witchcraft of these forms, and make the law which was to govern ell intelligible to all ? Was it not disgraceful to a country like England that decisions eheuld take plays in her Courts upon the forms of the p'eadings contradistinguished hod the merits of the case ?--(Hear, hear.)—He trusted he should live to see the day when a Judge would be ashameel to say he decided a ease on forms, on those forms which a Counsel or an At t 'racy might mistake, but which could not affect the right or equity of the claim set up by the party himself. A great deal had been seid on the subject of fees. They ought to he a'oolisked. There should be no turnpike tolls cm the road to Justice.—( Hear, hear.)—under the present sys. ton, a roan who was not able to pay the fees of the officers of Justice was deprived of Justice, for he could not go into the Courts to claim it, so that it was only given to those who could well afford to pay for its purchase._( Hear.) — The first great reform in the law ought to he to make law cheap. The Judges and the officers ought to be paid he the public, and a man who wished to assert his rieht in a Court of Justice ought not to be stopped on his entrance there with a demand of fees. which, if he could not satisfy, woul I prevent him from recovering his right. The Honourable Member near him bad com plained of their being only one Judge in a Court. He (Mr. O'Connell) thought that was quite enough ; and he had the authority of England in his favour, since not only there was but one Judge in the Court of Chan eery, in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, and in the Court of the Master of the Rolls ; but we had recently deprived the Chief Baron of the company of his Learned Brothers, and had made him a solitary Judge in an Equity Court of his own. There were few who recollected well what the Courts were that would not say one Judge was sufficient in each, and that the other three only delayed the party, God knows how long, before he could get his case derided. He threw out these ideas as preparatory to what he recom mended the Right Hon. Gentleman to bring forward as a thing necessary above all others—be meant the formation of a code for England. All other countries haul codes, and why should England be behind them in the simplicity of her laws ? The principle of codification eras good. The Right lion. Gent. eras proud, and justly proud, of his amendments in the criminal law. What were thos e amendments but the principle of codification? Should he be told that society and its transactions were too compli cated for snch a code? Why we affected now to have a law fir every subject; and if there was not one of them in the form of a statute, the Judges applied their own de cisions to the case, and that created the judge•made law, than which nothing could be more defective and uncertain. Mr. PEEL said he had purposely avoided entering into some parts of the subject of the Scotch Law, having re served them for a future opportunity. He had no objec tion to the returns of the business of the Scotch Courts being laid before the House ; but he believed, when they came to be examined, they would not be found to sustain the opinion of the I-lon. Member opposite. Ile had heard, with great satisfaction, the temperate and judicious manner in which the lion. and Learned Member for Clare had entered into this discussion, but he could not go quite the length of that Hon. and Learned Member as to the necessity for absolutely putting an end to special pleading. lie believed that in the next Report of the Commissioners it would be recommended to substitute a special plea for the general inane. 'fhere was no topic more popular than the formation of a Code, but he wished Hon. Gentlemen who recommended such a measure, would first ascertain the extent of the commentaries upon the Code Napoleon. It was advantageous to lay down a clear rule—but it was impossible to foresee every thing, and the shorter the rule the more was left to the Judge i❑ its application. Now that had always been complained of as an evil. Mr. O'CONNELL said that the difference between this country and France was, that we bad the materials fur a owls in our present laws, which only required compres sion and arrangement ; but the cede of France was dif ferent in that respect. Leave was given to bring in the Rill PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. The Marquis of BLANI)FORD, in making the motion of which he Lad given notice, on the subject of abuses in elections, spoke as follows :—I rise to answer the call made o❑ me last Session, and, following the course then suggested for my adoption by my Right Hon. opponent, the Secretary of State fur 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 re collection of this House the course pursued by the upon the occasion I have referred to. I then, Sir, eanaidered it my duty to divide the House upon the question whether Par liament would or would not be pleased by a formal reso lution 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, under the very singular opposition 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 Parliamen rary recognition of their existence. Mere notoriety begets defiance of public opinion and a fearless habit of offending. But, if Parliament, by a formal vote, had put its brand mark upon these transactions—if, by:some general resolu tion, it had stigmatised them as crimes against the law of Parliament and the Constitution ofthe country, a good foun dation 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 'teem good to the ma jority of this House to hurt the sensibilities of the borough monger, by calling his trade by its proper name, or to injure his interest, by laying that his gain: were condemned by Parliament and the country. The people, however, will speak out, though Parliament may choose to keep silence, or !nay try to impose silence upon others. The ♦oice of the country is not to be Riffled by a vote ei this House— it will be in ♦ain to attempt to smother truth—not all the finesse of all the political intriguers, nor all the power of all the political despots, will be able to stem or turn aside the current which is now setting is, 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 them happy methods of introducing to public notice modest merit and latent talent, and virtue, and patriotism, and I know net what besides. It is in vain to reckon upon the Whigs and the Tories •f note, and of no note, who have contrived to bring themselves, and their independence, into Parlia ment by these back gates sad by-ways. The thing re tains the Ramie character of corruption, whether it gene rates the venal Statesman, or the useful Member of Par liament ; the splendid fly that soars in this House upon the wings of eloquence, or the grub that feels upon the vitals of the country—corruption is the f !thee of them all. Neither will all the speeches of all the approvers of such a system be able to make corruption incorrupt, or convert the borough business into a blessing, or legalise th e 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 daring outrages 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 13t01112 of Purliarnoutuy weal - none has fallen upon small trd, 4.neo anal retill (letters in the bribery line— Da: vexat umsura columbas. Jany a Ivor:l 3 ' p,mrs its thunders upon the head of the s•ervt.li ng sk:IN his vote, and dines upon his degra dation; but 4;:n• Code contains no store of wrath, no pains, nor p;•naitie4, nor con,ures, fk:r the great and extensive ready-money trade in returns to Pariarnent. Seats, two or ten at a time, may be ; , ought tud sJI, and all coneernrd will continue, all, ell honourable man—and they will find in this House not mei cly apologists, but panegyrists—they eon / be even extolled for true patriots—and the ready money method of getting a seat is extolled too, and is called patriotic, and expedient, and constitutional, and just as it ought to be. But, Sir, I cannot concur in such sentiments; such panegyric and philosophy arc alike adverse to my views and cenvictionn--and hi: F yn : , for the country, and all its great interests, his Majesty's Ministers do not appear to participate in these opinions --I certainly have never heard theta take that fine of defence, or nailer empty declamation, and most. impotent delusion. They hare never set foot upon that slippery and hollow ground ; so that, in spite of the /10p tiVe by which the Right lion. Gentleman opposed my re solution last Session, I shall continue to think that Go v,rament Inv be disposed to treat the question of Reform, not in the spirit of party politicians or borough traders, but upon the at ineinles of truth and nelson. Agreeably, therefore, Sir, to the terms of my notice, and in conformity with what I would fain hope I :night find to be the disposition of the Government, I will endeavour to make the questiou one of prisiciple, and not of party. I will refer it altogether to the decision of the Law and Con stitution. I will make them the criteria of what is right and wrong—true and false—sincere and corrupt, in re spect of our Parliamentary Returns. Now, Sir, without going into :Lily abstract question about the rights of popular representation, without touching the historical contro versies upon that point, without investigeting, the origin of Parliaments or Parliamentary Councils, it may (and as I think, safely) be laid down that national councils, of some sort and denomination, are coeval with our existence as a nation. Normans—Saxons—Britons—.all had them. These are facts capable of being 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 inoulded into its present shape end size, to show by what collision of contending interests it has been compressed and restrained from with out, 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. Tne inquiries WC have to deal with are, whether the people are, or are not, at this time represented according to the mani fest purpose and designs of the laws and the Constitu tion of the country—( Hear, hear,)--or whether, by the lapse and vicissitudes of time, greet changes have taken places in the state of our Parliamentary 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, sod the fundamental principles of the Constitution. As to the question, then, whether the people are or are not repre , ented in a manner conformable with the principles and purposes of the Constitution, not withstanding the ingenuity of a Paley, or the eloquence of a Conning, I assert that they 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 re turns of representatives from towns and boroughs—the same nunitor from the same places, let whet will be their state and condition, as to the density, or thinness, or no thingness, of their population—their wealth or their po verty—their commercial or agricultural strength or weak ness. Now hers, Sir, we Mel 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 issuing its summons to this or that tr wn or boron ;b, according to some tea I.ir supposed superiority which it possessed over others, 1 cannot but obesrve that the variableness perceived in the issue of these writs, and the teturns made upon them, suggests this important conclusion—that in those ancient days, which some may be disposed to call days of political ignorance, civic or municipal prosperity stems mainly to have determined the fitness of the city or borough for the elective franchise. lam aware that there are sonic 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 boroughs—none but own te nants on burgage tenure—to cents to his Councils, and settle their rates of contribution to his wants ; but this will not account for the nature, number, and diversity of the early returns; and I think it is clear, from the history of the places themselves, that much depended upon their prosperity. 'When towns and boroughs were seen to thrive, the King's favour was also seen to follow their good fortune ; and when their gold was seen to glitter, the Crown discovered the means of satisfying its necessi ties, and found abundant reasons for calling upon them to send their citizens and burgesses to Parliament ; for whe ther it was the King, or the King's officer, who se lected the cities or boroughs, it makes no difference to my argument; it was their wealth and prosperity which de termined the choke—their ability to defray the expenres of their cimisens and burgesses during their attendance in Parliament—their rank as trading towns—their right to Ise represented, by reason of their commercial weight and greatness—in short, Sir, whatever might be the motive, public or private, which determined the Royal choice, it was the consequence of the town, under some relation or another-1 mean its political conse. quence—which pointed it out as 11 proper subject for these Parliamentary honours. If, then, this:changeable ness in the issue of writs of summons be admitted, as it must be, for it is au historical fact, it will not only throw light upon the present unintelligible returns from places of no consideration; but further, it will sug gest:the fitness of recurring to primitive principles, and of transferring elective franchises from old foss-ways and crumbling castles, from the solitude of the plain and the ploughed field to the busy haunts of men—to the indus trious, and the intelligent, and the independent, among the sons of agriculture and commerce. But besides this departure front the ancient principles and practice of Par liamentary 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 be came the property of tile rich and the powerful; and in stead of being dependent, as they originally were, upon the pleasure of the Crown for their writs of summons, they became dependent upon the !pleasure of their pur chasers, for the returns of those writs—and their writs of summons and charters of incorporation, (like other paper arid parchment securities), became marketable com modities, conveying to the buyer the certainty of honours, and the contingency of profits in this House—this also is a manifest departure from constitutional 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 honours, 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 ths National Council. It was never meant to help on the speculations of craft, or th e ga i ns o f avar i ce, or t h e pro jects of ambition, by making seats and franchises, articles the best bidder. But, Si r , th ese depa,r to be bought by tures from an c i ent pr i nc i p l es, t h ese v i olat i ons of ancient practice, have not only taken piece in the manner of making returns front three close and decayed boroughs (in which returns nothing can now be discovered) like " franche et due election," according to the ancient Statute; nothing like the principle in the ancient writ " qu o d oinnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur ;" but there are still more remark able violation, and departures in respect of the qualifica tions of the b urgesses returne d — b y the anc i ent laws and practice they were to be " resident indwellers and free men of the borough or city they represented, and no others"—" Nuls mitres in nulls maniere." It is true that these laws were repealed—it is true also that, to the Repealing A c t, we may f a i r l y ascr ib e much of the mischief that now exists. Boroughs are now supplied with Representatives from every other de scription of pet lons, except residents and in, dwellers, or persons locally connected with these boroughs.— We may look through time whole series of Cornish returns, and scarcely find a Cornish name in the list Of their bur gesses; we cannot even say " slat nominis umbra ;" nam e 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 interest of the Stanneries are sotnetnnes confined to speculators in mines of Mexico and Peru.. paper i s seen to tr i ump h over t h e i nfluence and interest of its tin. By the mere operation of paper and parchment, Cornish seats have been transferred like shares in a joint stock co m p any , at t h e mar k et pr i ce to some great cepitalist 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 aa a necessary qualification, that boiough Representatives should h ave a s uitable know- leage of' local interests. The writ in question required the Sheriff to return " de quolibet Burgo duos Borgenses qui in navigio et exercitio merchandisarurn notitiam ha beans !radii:rem ; and the writ eonclades with an injunc tion that nine are to be returned who want this necessary local or rather municipal informvion. The knowledge waich was raqiiired in these harcesses was a plain prac rival knowledge for every day's use ; it was not a tiper fiae knowledge in political economy ; that sort of sci ence which has filled the country with bankrupts and bookmakers, which produces thick octavos and thin purses, and makes nine very rich in fine phrases, and eery po r in pocket. This was not the kind of knowledge which King Edward requ'red for his burgesses. They were to be knowing men "in exercitio mercandisarnm ;" in a good sound tradesmardike information, such is was bot tomed upon car:lvaco sense and co ninon experience—not upon theory and hair- spli , ting, and the fo";ee of fanciful philosophy. The result, then, of all these references to Parliamentary antiquities is, that borough elect . ons ought to he as free as those o f counties—that the Men:hers 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, p- chaps, be replied, that the system is an&aw, that the practice has passed into usage, and become an esta 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 apply the shortest and readiest refutation. " Time (says he) is a great isnovatar ;" meaning that time itself, and what is (llied the march of events, produce such changes in the circumstances, rela tions, and affinities of old institutions, as to make them different in fact and effect, though they may contiau, the same in name; they may even become so different, as to require adjuatments and adaptations to the vicissitudes of time, in order to secure their original utility ; and that great man has followed up his remark by stn h per tinent illustrations of it, tlist I cannot forbear citing them in support of my own views upon this ques tion; neither will they he thought the worse for being in grafted upon some of the old adagia of oar laws. Leoes, (says lie,) nevi s legibus non recreatco neeseunt—laws not refreshed by, new laws wax sour—qui rnala non permutat in basis nonparscrerat—without change of ill, a mean cannot continue the good—to take away abuses sup plantenth not good orders, but establishes thern—ilforosa marls retentio res fur/stile/11a est ague ae noritas—a con tentious retaining of custom is a turbulent thing, as much so as innovation—a good husbandman is ever pruning in his vineyard, or his field-, not unskilfully, but lightly ; he fiudeth ever somewhat to do." And so, Sir, it is with respect to the sohject of Parliamentary Reform ; and I assert, upon this high authority, that to defend at a thing that is praiseworthy, or to recommend as a thing that is expedient, the present ownership in sects and suffrages, and writs and summons to Parliament, because it is an cient, is a sort of revolutionay doctrine, it is to hold the language and opinions of of revolutionary men ; it is to think, and talk, and act, contrary to the principles; of our representation, and the analogies of our law, and the spirit of inir Constitution, and the judgment of our best writers. The theorist who sets about the defence of venal and pro prietary boroughs may, perhaps, be able to cite many ancient and modern appointments, by Ladies, as well as Gentlemen—for, if 1 rightly recollect the words of the Record, Dame Dorothy Packington, in the lath of Elizabeth, sent two burgesses to Parliament from her town of Aylesbury ; and notified under her hand and seal, that they were her Representatives; and that whatever they did was to be considered as her act and deed. In spite, how ever, of this high authority, and all other ancient prece dents, it will not be possible to make these crooked trans actions straight ; it will not be possible to correct their deformities, or to cleanse their foulness, or to legalise their unlawfulnese. They are, and ever must remain, foul spats upon our drapery—dark and dirty places upon the apparel of this House. Neither are they to be washed out by rhetorical ablutions ; by descanting upon the beauty which results from the intermixture of imperfections, and the harmony which arises from discord, and the practical advantage of departing from the letter of the law, and of doing a little evil that good may come. All this and a great deal more may be said and admired by the lovers of dexterous declamation; but if ten times more were to be said, and ten times better, it could not have the rffect of altering tke essential character of these transactions ? for these questions still recur. Is it agreeable to the constitu tion of the Coramons' House of Parliament that there should be any thing- 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 ? and that there should be any thing like a heir-loom?--any thing like a heritablet or a marketable, or a testamentary property or interest attached to these benches?—a sor t o f property 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 decoration, but defence ; and when we find able men, politicians, or philosophers, trying to 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 ar gument, 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 represents thin ; and changes in men's opinions of them, and the way in which they are now considered, and spoken of, and sought for. Instead of hieing called hardships aid burden., from which poor towns prayed to be relieved, they have become lucrative deputations, beneficiary 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 manucaptor, and even by the sei zurej 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 receiving wages— (Knights, 4s.,:Citizens and Burgesses, 2s. a day) —many Honourable Gentlemen would be glad to hold their seas 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 Parliament ;—though it has changed all the great interests of the country, and all the relations of public and Parliamentary 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 Common» of England demand and obtain an adequate appearance by proxy in the great Council of the nation. It has not weakened nor obscured any one of the plain and simple propositions c.intained is the writs of summons to the Sheriffs of the realm. What was good law and good policy upon the issue of the first writ for knights, citizens, and bur gesses, 56$ years ago, continues to be so still ; and there is not a better way of arriving at the Reform which is so much desired, than by reverting* to ancient principles, to the manifest designs of our forefathers, to the records of their prudence, as well as of their prowess; and I believe that surei, safer, and reader 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 he found that the best sort of Reform will be the restoration of what time hay impaired, the cleansing of what corruption has polluted, the rectifying of what craft has twisted aside from its proper use and real de sign.—(Hear, hear.)—Nothing, Sir, it appears to me, now remains but that 1 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 provisions I have en deavoured to construct upon ancient principles—princi ples which have appeared to me best fitted for amending and repairing the Constitution of this liouse—" Sum ex its qui mirer antiquos." Now, then, Sir, I propose by this Bill, which is to restore to the Commont of England their rightful share in the Legislature, to place upon re cord, by way of recitals, the fundamental principles of representation, as I find them in the books, when both the theory and the practice were in the state of their greatest purity ; and the clear meaning of this Bill may never he misunderstood. I find from the time of Henry 111. and throughout the subsequent reign; 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 citizens and burgesses returned to Parliament; by virtue of the King's writ to the Sheriffs of the different counties, were elected and chosen by the inhabitent-householthrt of the large and populous towns, paying scot and lot; and so it was declared by a Committee of the House of Comm . ons, of which Lord Coke (th e gre a t orac l e o f the Law of Eng land) and the learned Mr. Selden, were both Members, for during tine reigns above alluded to, and down to that of Edward IV., tine practice of granting Royal charters had not been introduced—the first being in the 17th year of that reign, by which charter the right of sending one hur gees to Parliament was granted to [the borough of Wen lock. I propose, then, by the first enactment of this Bill, that a Committtee of twenty-one Members of this House (to be chosen by ballot) shall be a p po i nte d , w i th ten days e utter tl ftliisAct, an d , i hereafter, within th e first ten days after the commencement of each Session, with full power to ascertai n t h e exact state of every city, borough, and port, o ort, in the united Kingdom. Secondly.— Mat as soon AS th e said Committee ehali have aserr- hined the fact that any city, borough, or pert, n into decay, and ceased to be such populous and x . rcrilthy place as was originally intended tr - Kctid a 'rafenilier or Members to serve in Parliament, or that the granted to any city or borough ought to he coneideved ens forfeited, by mis-nee or a'n-n'or, that it shall be tl.e duty of the Committee to report each facts to the Seen' tare of State for the Herne Department; and that such report shall he deemed and taken to be that which, durin the purity of the representation, 'Taub! have taken place, end actually did take pl.tce in many instanees—nameiy, the petition of such city or borough to Le rectired of the harden of sending :Member. to Parliament. Thirdly : That, anon receiving mach Report, it shall be the duty of the Secretary et State to announce, in the Gazette, that such city or borough has ceased to send Members to Par liarrenr, or that the franchise thereof has been forfeitf.: for mis-u.e. F,:tarthly: The Committee are directed t, begin their investigation and reports with tile Burgage Tenure Boroughs, beeruse these are known is their pre,ent I>tate to afford a direct proprietary interest,— Fifdily. That as soon as such announcement hhall he male in the Gazette, the Committer ehall select such po. pulons unrepresented, or inadequately represented towns or places, with the hundreds, districts, or parishes, surround ing the came, as the Committee shall think proper, in ord r to fill tip the seats rendered vacant as above ; and it is provided that the right of voting in cassia towns or places so selected, shall be according to the oldest qualifiratioos known to the law, and the practice of the country, namely, in a;1 the inhabitant householders paying soot and lot, or, in other words, assessed to any tax, parochial or Parliamen tary. And the Committee are direcksi to report such en— lection to the Sscretety of State, who is to eanse the same to he published in the Gazette, and to send copies thereer to the Lord Chanceller the Speaker of the Iltiose f Commons, and the returning dicers of such towns anti places ; and such report is to he deemed, and taken to he, the enfranchisement of anch towns or places to send Members to Parliament. Sixthly—Ai the object of tl • Bill is to restore the representation to its ancient purity, I propose, among other excellent old laws, now either re pealed or become obsolete, to restore the principle and prac tice of paying Members the wages of attendance—(Late, lc ter)—according to the value of money at the present d.y, which I consider should be 21. a day for citizens and bur gessea, and 44. for Knights or Members for counties.— (Loud cud sot:tinned langhtcr.)—No part of our ;elm., sentative sys;.,:m is better established, and it remains the law at this day. It this principle had he-n strictly ad hered to, as it ought to have been, few of *1 e abuses that we now have to complain of rooke have existed; for, as fast as towns fell into decay, they would have been re lieved of the burden of sending Members to Parliamen' i , aid other larger and more wealthy sad populous towns W .ulti have been enfranchised. Seventkly—l propose, after all populous town. and phases shall he represented, that the vacant seats which may remein should be fulled first by a representation of theme cottons is Scotland nn'' subject to alternate representation only, and then by amid ing one or two Members to Finch other counties in the United Kingdom as the Committee piny think stand most in need of such addition; and it is presided that, before the Committee shall add to the County Representation, they are to add to the electors of all those cities and bo roughs (now open, and not justifying a report upon the grounds stated in this Bill), by adding thereto such hundreds and parishes round the sante as the Commit tee may think proper, in order that the electors so au,• mented may he folly able to bear the burden of prying the wages of attendance. Eighthly : In order to insure t., any householder assessed to any tax the right of voting-, I propose to enact that any each person, who may not he in cluded in any of the places to be enfranchised, may rote st the enfranchised town or place nearest to his residence, provided he agrees to be assessed for payment of the wag,s, &c. With respect to Scotland, I feel that, after the peti tions for reform front Edinburgh, and almost every bo rough in Seoland, now before the House, it would his most unjust towards the people of that part of the United Kingdom, and also most unwise and impolitic, to leave the representation in Scotland i• the state is which it is, one, therefore, I mean by the foregoing etuctmente, that its representation shall be reformed and placed upon the same fts :dug as that of England. Ninthly : Having gone through the enactment. as applicable exclusively to cities, boroughs, *own., and ports, in the United Kingdom, I propose, as was proposed by Mr. Pitt, in respect of tennties, that the right of voting shall be extended to copyholders and cer tain leaseholders, not only because the greatest anthoritiee in the law of England, with Lord Coke at their head, have laid it down that oopyliolders have an estate equal to freeholders, but because these oopyhold lands and bene ficial leaseholds, as they exist at this day, were tenures utterly unknown when the right of voting was li mited to freeholds ; and, above all, because their copyhold and leasehold lands bear the same proportion of tuxes, pa rochial and Parliamentary, as is borne by fieehelds. Free. holds, also that happen to be situated in any town that is a county by itself ought not for that reason to he taxed and unrepresented. I therefore propose that the proprietors of such property shall be entitled to vote for the county at large. Then, again, with respect to S:a.tland ;--it is a fact well known to the gentlemen from that part of the kingdom, that voters for counties are manufactured by a sort of trick ; that is, by separating what is called the se. periority from the:property; and thus voters have been created that have not a foot of property in the county. Is this representation of the landed interest? I propose, therefore, to put an end to all earls fictitious means of creating votes; and as a large mass of landed property is now held by what is called fen-rights, that is, beneficial leases for lives, or long terms rf years, and subject to its full share of taxation, I pi - slew that this property, like the copyholds in England, shall be represented. Tenthly, I propose that all persons now in possession of a right of voting for counties in Scotland, arising merely from superiority without property, shall be entitled to vote for the city or borough that shall be nearest to their places of residence, provided they agree to be asseaess for the wages of their representatives. By the eleventh enactment of this Bill, I propose to enact that no person, now having the right to vote fur any city or borough, shall again exercise such right unless lie be re sident within time same ; but that all such non-residents shall be entitled to vote for the city or borough nearest to his place of residence, it being the object of theme enact ments that no person shall be disfranchised. As I consi der it necessary that regulations should be adopted to pre vent the enormous expense that often takes place at elec tions, I propose, by the twelfth ointment, that it shall he the duty of the Committee to make such regulations ae they think proper for this pa rpm?.; and also to render the act of voting as little inconvenient as poseiitle to the elec tors. I find our system of Representation greatly aFeriel for the n-oree by some modern Acts of Parliament; these I propose, by the thirteenth enactment of this Bill, to re peal. In the first place, it is notorious that the only rea sons given fur the passing the Septennial Bill have long since ceased to exist. Therefore I propose to repeal that Bill—namely, the 7th of Geo. L In the next place, I do not find, from the time of Henry 111. down to the ninth year of the reign of Qneen Anne, that there was any law that made it necessary for citizens and bur gesses to be possessed of landed estate. of the annual value to o sit in this t 3 hi n e o/. or Ifoue s e n other ;y while m e s l u fin , d in o th r e d t, er fr to om Les qeal the ifie - l roost ancient times--namely, by theist of Henry V. cep. I. it was wisely enacted, " That such citizens and burgesses of cities and boroughs he chosen men, resident, dwelling, and free, in the same cities and boroughs, and no other in any wise." I therefore propose to repeal this modern Act of Queen Anne, as it relates to the qualification of citizens and burgesses to sit in Parliament. By the fourteenth enactment of this Bill, I propose to repeal a still more mo dern, and a still more monstrous violation of our old law— namely, the 14th of Gen. 111. a. 18,—which was the Irst Act that was made to repeal the wise enactments of the let of Henry V., requiring that the elected should be chosen from among the resident inhabitants of each place. But, as some boroughs have the right by charter to choose from among themselves, or others, I propose that the Cum tnittee, by their Report, shall confirm such right either to these boroughs, or to such towns as they may selec t in their place ; and I propose to enact, that any i nhab i tant of any as to being free of that anytownbeingelectcdaphie, feeaaltlaa6lrurow thel;t of Henry of aery ing in Parliament. I Aid by the Act of the 12th and 13th of William 111., " for the better menriag the rights and liberties of the people," after solemnly declaring that " the laws of England are the birthright of the people thereof," it is enacted, " that no person who has an office or place of profit under the Kirg er receives a pen sion from the Crown, thall be capable of serving as a Islember of the House of Commons. Now, I hold thesis wise l aws of our ancestors to be the land marks of the Con stitution ; and, therefore, I propose that the fith of Queen Anne, c. 7, which, by allowing plseemen to vacate their seats and be re-elected, has entirely defeated the wise pro visions of the 12th and 13th William 111., be repealed, and to declare that the Act of King William was intended to apply to all offices and places of profit under the King, that then existed, or should thereafter exist. Lastly, Sir, I consider it expedient to repeal not only such Acts as have been passed for upholding what Bishop Burnet and the great Lord Chatham called " the rotten parts of the Con stitution," but also such as touch the eligibility of Mein hers to serve in Parliament, if the same shall have been made in a particular ease, and from personal motives to wards any individual ; and particularly when the rights Tevioa4 trili a tho ! , 4 on all I vvtr4 aims of by tho Iranr. f L 1 same lot t of. tie form , r y COIII. i.t nnw iITIA 45 )1 thit ti,et ing the to eon- ch me ;n:an , ,ot of laor to chit ere are epteh Thee icyrs of I Lutell pr:et , NMI of n 4 that hash r.yhody Lted ohjret 11.:r -i great t!y the 0 avoi , i Iressio t ry that public qaea • • novel ?ar ago nmret tr QXI6K •rnK 110 Eigink ijurity, lu ic HA' to the moo'• to a 4,1 he rc- )f the c re of the }_ln mure4 ilousß ple t' fuel Tos rare at