The National Register.
London, England, 1809-06-11 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

thou;l►t it much stronger than it should be, ond.if not checked,
that it may event►►ally overwhelm the other branches of the
Coo,Aitution. Au lion. Gentleman (Mr. Itose) on a former
evening, had from his tables made calculations which went the
length of saying, that the influence of'the Crown was less at
pre,ent than it' had ever been. Front the unobserved influence
which he (Mr. Whithread) was conscious then existed, there

certainly app.!arevl to.hiin a necessity for a further reduction in
poasioned seats, notw it.loanding they were fewer even
ray they had keen.--From considering the extended
pat 1.011.1,40 arising out of the army, navy, &c. it was impossihle
t • perceive the increasing influence of the Croy% n. For in-
be Local Militia, from the dispfisal of conunissionF,
iv herein twiny individuals would be attached to that influence,

Members of that House may be influenced through their
con-titurnts. A Right Hon. Gent. on a former occasion, assumed
th practit eto himself, and left the theory to him. He should
,tlt.a from the time of the revolution to the present day,
wado3ll% practical efforts had been made by the exclusion of per-
bons holding places or pensions,lowards curtailing the influence
of the Crown, therefore, what he no%t proposed was (oily an
ex tension of that practice. The theory contained in the act of

settlement iie I.hoitid consider as mischievous so far as it went to

exclude from seats in Parliament the necessary officersof hoards
of Government ; but he must declare, that there were admitted
inlre thin, to his opini!m. was necessary. All the Lords of the
.Adoliralty he did not think necessary, two of them and the Se-
cretary were as many ak: whuld he sufficient for the purpose of
improving their knowledge in that department by an intercourse
with Parliament. The clerk of the ordnance it would be eTpe-

client to have in the lionse, hut it was not proper that the store-
keeper, the treasnrer, or the clerk of the deliveries should have
seats thereto Unconnected as the Board of Controul was with

general Parliamentary detail, he did not think it necessary to
have more than the President a member of that House, if a
Commoner. In all the great official departments, ,the heads
alone were sufficient to hold seats in Parliament. After deny-
tne. utility of the officers of his Majesty's household having
seats in Pat liament, and asserting that they could only be intro- •
duced to suppart the Crown prerogative, the Hon. Gentleman
adverted to the statute of Queen Anne and George I. upon the
f.ubjeet of seats held by those who enjoyed pensions, either for
life or a term of years. He disclaimed any connection of his
present measure with Parliamentary Reform, and only wished
to 1111IIC the parties who were I,vourable and adverse to that
measure. Tin. lion. Gentleman coneloile.l, by moving a resolu-
tion to this effect. " That the House in the course of the next
ti: ssinn, w ill take into it, ecinsideration the necessity of limiting
the number ofthose persons wilt, holds Seats in Parliament, toge-
ther ix ith emoluments and places under the Crown."
The 1: SCA:I4.Oa Of the Ezell rte., ER. said, that though
the liouse was not at present called to come t," a tit'tiact
on the subject proposed, vet it under the views of the Mentor.
able Cientlemao, his resolution should he adopted to tile extent
of toosidering this Insurer in the next 'Session, the (louse would
nlto;ether allow the expediency of diminishing the nutoher of
those persons holding seats under the forementioned cirettm-
stances. The lion. Gentleman had said the mater would he
equally open to his (Mr. Perceval's) ohjectioas in the nett Ses-
sion, and therefore he did not expect any opposition in the pre-
vent in-tat:: e ; but he would say that the question would not he
then unprejudiced if this resolution were acceded to now. If it
were not right to come to an Opinion on the subject now, it
wonld not he IleCeti•ill'V at her p: riod. Rut the llonottr.ble
Gentleman said "ivi lived in times ii hen the idea of ite'oeolce
front avowed corruption had gone abroad, and th"r!..e-e rte
should set :Jena excluding it.'' At any period w rec.,,ra was
called for, refer:awe was invariably made to the ex t-t:•:- •orac-
tical bataace in that House. The result of Mr. Da 1•. i.!.• :,s torso-
Intim' on a former occo-ion, Omagh it proposed e‘;•:•;• •!:1 :t:1311
similar grounds, shew cil that there was
.a cogniko.c sueh
thing, e ',Ai and whit oeapprobation of Pits liamea •. .1. :n, • '
(her reason of tae Hon. Gentleman for considering at. matter
wa,, the deference that sh,oild be paid to opinion.
Hr
viould nterlv deny that the mode it collecting the pehlic seati-
clients was by attending to the opinions which demagogues Tress-
ed ow' those by whom they were attended. It asst impolitic
to enter upon this subject if nut prepared with some proliosis
itru
AV hick it may be ne..escary to adopt. The fact of increasing in-
fluence in the Crown be should totally deny, as also that it arose
to such an extent from the disposal of commissions, Re. In fact,
the increase of wealth among the Members of the poptilnr branch
became a strong countervailing balance upon that infiaence.
appointweni.b 40 th.: "A0c,41 oritrintttexi !tot With Abr

574

KiiiA hut he Lord Lieuteuant of the county, and for his part he
thought, that to accept of such appointments was rather act of
patriotism on the part of the receiver than of patronage on Simi
of the donor, and that the charge was attended with mods per-
sonal inconvenience for the purpose of securing the public advan-
tage. The lion. Gentleman had said% that the practice of the
Constitution was in favour of the precedents by which he regu-
lated his present measure. There were theorists% however, who
would overstep the practice, and urge additional reasons for abo-
fishing 20 as 10 had been before. Though the Honourable
Gentleman may cousiderecrtain limits as satisfactory to biro, yet
others would be fur extending their referring by example to the
Act of Settlement for so doing, and therefore the lion. Gentle-,
man's propoiitiou could be of no stationary or fixed effect. Up-
on these grounds, he trusted, the resolution of the lion. Gentle-.
man would he negatived by the House.
The original motion was withdrawn for the purpose of adopt,
ins the words "That Parliament would, early in next Session,
take into consideration how far it was expedient to limit the
number of Members in the House holding places, &c. Upon
this the House divided, and the Members were : For the iSeso-
luau°, 54 ;—.Against it, LIS ;—Majority, 59.

Friday, June 9.

Sir Jon x NEWPORT objected to the clause for grantiog in-
demnity to ()dicers ho had been guilty of corrupt practices in
the collection of the re‘enue, and said he would take the sense
of the House, wi et tier it should stand part of the hill.
The house divided—For the clause, 41 ;—Against it, 47 ;
Majority against the clam:, 0.
Mr. W ti ITDIt E"..1 o said, that understanding the keeper of the
stores at dlyde Park was not a person who had ever served in
the army, he should next session, it' that person was not remov-
ed. in the interim-from his situation, make a motion for that
purpose.

FREIGHT OF EAST INDIA SHIPPING.
Mt. PRT: IN E G %ST, after some observations on the extreme
harthitips to which merchants rettcling in India, who had goods
to send to this country, were exposed by the exorbitant rates of
freight charged by the East.lndia Company, being at one pe-
riod, as he observed on a former evening, no less than 441. per
ton, moved that a Copy of a Memorial from the Directors of
the East-Irlia Company to the Lords of the Treasury, dated
the SLI of Alay, 1191, and I lid before the House in March, 1801,

be reprinted.
After a few obFervations from Mr. Howarth, the Right Hon.
Robert Dondag, 11r. Peter Monte, and Mr. Grant, the papers
moved for b v the lion. Gentleman on a former eight and reftmA,
were ordered to be laid before toe H ()use.

HIM. Gentlrmo! then tOO% ed for certain other ppent
relative to the oath taken by the Dire, tot!) of the lodia Com-
pany. anal th, Eye for its Government,in order to found
therein a rti:trge against Mr. limit, the present C;.airman. for
having eatriod un a private trade. contrary to the regulations
specitiNi in the ::aid oath n id 1.1,e I
wition was objected hi by the Ft i2,ht Thin. Ft. Dtindait
and \lr. Peter Moore, and after a few remarks from Mr. Pren-
dergast, %%a, %%ithdraau.

full TOE PREVENTION oF tFFICKING, FOR TEATS

IN I'AftLIAMENT.

The CilA Ncr. Lt.° n. of the Excli cqt, ER propa4ed as ameotl-
tha• after the ‘‘or(6specirvio4 the pen:illy for every otrer
or orotniieffiatil' in order to procure a seat in Parliament, that
the follim ioz; word, he nixtitted, •• that for the t•ai4i otfence the
Menilter he Ow:to:mit:twit from relnitiing a Seat in Par-
liament for I'lol tint U or borot4:h as he might have been returu-
ed far." _ . .

The ameadment wits put aro! carried, and the House having
resinaed, the report was hrought op and agreed to. Several
anivnilments tnade in the Committee wet c then read and
agreed to. Ou the clati.c added to the bill hy the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, to disable person., to sit in Pa: tiament, aho
nad procured their :eats by any express promise of places,
otlires, ii‘c. being read,
Lord Mi!..ro-; rose to oppose it, ohjected to the inclusion of
the word " 1110 he contended would colopletely de-
feat the ohjeets of the hill. He would r!ther the clause was
wholly omitted than that this n ord should he inserted : and
inlayed that either the word express" should he erased fr
the clause, or that the clause should he withdrawn.
A division took pbtee on the amendment for the omi tio3
c

the bk lire's," ivhint appeured—Ayes) W ;—Nu•
; )1 a ity ;