The National Register.
London, England, 1818-06-08 00:00:00

REFORM OF PARLIAMENT.

F. BURDETT Stilt( d. that in rising porsi;ant to the no.
lice he had given, he should submit a to the House,
itself agreeable to all the notions of emotin' jusht r. and Mo.
netted with all those pi inciples c.t the Con -titutioo that had
exalted this country to BO high a (auk lattells tot
Europe. He would indeed (Lilt th. Mtscioil
was of such a nature that it eoudi u nliv he ohjecit
uy inan,who was capable of ctovio. them-tot.; its utoject. The
prin. iples upon winch the Mu; ion was founded, wen not
drawn from the artnal ict•uele.l•, nor from ottl
writers.; hilt he bud hiliost It to One soo rce, ;old that %As
flit autliori.y of the filling tile highs si official •ite. —to
11 the etpui.try, a.. appeared in the speeches Iron' the .
~,otevsiog s that he wished earn. stly t • ici• -. •
ooeu the. flits i. '.t-had always appeared to 11101
A ."*. Kin,and lb' people, wher nude:••
audtsi be ;flood to cunt:cat. ; anti there was no season 10, •
Lamm:: jeJ.ous) of the Ctown, it tlii- pours of t!i.E t.t.ot
to.:lanced, by Lie cheek ...flirt.' ell. a la,.
I,..esentatitni or Mt- people to -.5 ow: of I'

JUNI: El

me& 'liar resolut:uns he intended to move might be ther.;_iit
long, but they would not be found too long, nor had they bee:.
advisee-eel without a due consideration of the subject, and, as
Car as authority %%eel, would he found uudesitahle. The s.ii;
jest appeared to him to be so plain, that he was at a loss
means of illettratieo. to eiupsov, as the subject ir:tiled to Lin
to call fur universal assent. The him. lierunct, its a long ar-
gument, having proved that emu al Parliaments were no in::
vetiver, that suffrage %sus, and ought to he more uuiversa',
havisig at geed the subject upon the equitable principle of
the universal benefit that would rese!t trout refines, hoped
it would lint be objected to him that !lc advocated principles
of anue•ehy, or of an unattainable: and visionary perfection.--
If such was the case, at least he supported such principles in
good company, in company with men whose integrity and ta-
lent ought to be sufficient to protect lehe at least against the
imputation of evil designs. Has ing no either wishbeet to place
this question on the ground of reason, lie would now proceed
to otter some resolutions upou it. The Ilunourable Baronet
having then read a string of resolutions.
Lord Coen lose' to second the resolutions. After what
lie had seen take place, on so litany occasions, its the House,
on the subject of Reform, he could not have any sanguine
expeetat as to the result of the resolutions which his
1/1011, rriesiel had sit Tlwy would, however, have this
good • ffect, that they would teach the people what it was for
which they were to petition. He world not on the present
oecasiole, say, that the House was influenced in its decisions
by particular motivesottele as 1111. power oh hunstrrs, or that
inlet est %hide they possessed, of making places the reward
of votes in a certain way that world not be parliamentary for
hint to express; but, if Hon. :Members looked to what %atm
done in former I s, if they looked back, not only to the
abuses of power which had beets committed under the sane.
teen of the Unman Senate, but even to those nets which had
been authorised by the bodies calling theinselseri representa-
tive in this country, at oilier perients, and compared them with
the acts of thy present representative b ely, they would not
believe that our ancestors nor their ancient predecessors
were the teals persons who were to be blamed fir their acts.
They wuntd, ton the contra' y, think that the smaller fault lay
with the former; fur the. greater the trust reposed in any bo-
dy, the greater was their crime in abusive that trust, as the
willing :Ministers of a despotic gos ttttt ent hail less to answer
fur their eundeet than they whit pretended to act as the
agents of a free eople. lie gave his general and unequi-
vocal assent to the resolutions proposed by the Hon. Baronet.
They were, in his of • 'ou, ant+ am the House ought to re-
ceiveund agree to ; and heres as probably it Wright be the last
time he should ever have the honour of adelreasong the House
on any subject—plere the Noble Lord shed tears and ap-
peared so overpowered by his feelings as not to be able to
proceed fur some seeonds.J—As this, lie continued, might be
the hist time he ihuOld have the honour of addressing the
Huse, lie was anxious to slate to them what his opinions
were of their conduct. It was now needs eleven yews since
lie ::111 the honour of a seat its the license, and since :Items ll)(le
wet., very few acts of theirs ni which he could agree with Om
opinines of the majority. To say that these Acts so voled
were cinerary to justice, would not be parliamentary in Dien.
He %sunlit oat ev Ai go into the iisquiry whether tiles treiti..l
to the natioual good or not ; but he would merely appeal to
the femings of the lanillioldera present—he would appeal to
the ktion ledge of those Milliliters who wile engaged in coin.
Intlee„ autl ask them, whether the Acts of the Legislative
Body were not of a description, daring die late war, that
would, if not for the timely intervention of the use of machi-
nery, have scut this uatiou to tutol ruin? 'llte comitry was
burthened to a state, which, but fur that intervention, it
would have been impossible fur the people to bear. The
cause of these measles es having such au effect upon the coun-
try, was examined, and the sunuce gone into by the results-
hoes of his Hon. Colleague. They weer to be traced,as had
been so well observed, to that puttee:me duel intheenee which
a number of powerful individuals pO,SPAStAI over the uonii-
nation of a great menthes of the :Members of that House ; a
power which, ilrvolving un a few, became thereby the more
liable to be alkeeted by the influence of the Croon; and
which Intel, in fact, been rendered almost entirely subservient
to that influence. To reform the abuses which arose out of
this sy•tein was the object of his Hun, friend's Motion. lie
would not, he could Out anticipate the success of that Motion;
but lie should say, as had been before said by the great
Chatham, the father of Mr. l'itt, that if the !louse did not re-
form Ore** from within,it would be reformed es Oh a vengeance
(tom without. The people would take the subject up, and
a reform would take place IA 11411 w. meld make utany Mem-
bers regret their apathy in refusing that reform which might
be rendered efficient and peinutuent. But unfortunately in
the present state of Oa House, to its present formation, it
appeared to him, that flour within no reform could be expect-
ed ; and for the truth of this he appealed to the experience
of nearly lOU elembers who were then present, nearly 600
bring absent; he appealed to their experielice, whether they
ever knew of any one instance where any petition of the
people fur reform was taken into consideration, or any re-
dress afforded in consequence of such petition This he
regretted, becausehe foresaw the consequence which would
necessarily result from it. Iletriesteel and hoped, that ;Mem-
bers would see in time the. noctsaity of adopt:Use some step
towards regaining the confidence of the people, which they
had, heconeeivid, entirely lost., for unless they duel so, they
would have, he believed, veva:aim to repent it n hen it would
be too late. ineee the 'Swa- Lord's utterance was again
choalsed for a time, and he ag..eit ease way to teas He had,
ler observed, no Refereed in et:eking these oksere slim's, but
that of the country. What he said was dictated by conaci-
morons feeling, lie was fully convineed of a great evil in
the :state, anti he wished to see it lemedied, its order that tbe
consequent me %Mitch he believed would result from its canal-
netaime might be as oldttl. lie had for 1111/CC than ten years
the I • .sf a seat in the House, and he test deeply the
coubdteire which was reposed in bine by tar (demo's of
a,.1 only in gnaw Imo a seat in the HutiNt, but,
I Ilre/Illse fill a late OreO•1011 it sillAtril their feelings ul abhor-
-1 leery of the tout and hot-rode euesioniies which had been
raised aganisi lion. [Heir again the Notiii Lead was pru•
VI ut;il sins 14t.1,,a ua for Millie aerwuds by All etisisiun of
le.:lad—He b. heel to be undeestuod as nut wir.loitig its the
pi esent oreasein to rear any aversions epos, liti Majesty's
%resters, la' was 1111%111,ft now to speak wish 111.4 lily of
day or Throe; nue &legged that they algal t..ke winning in
Ante. He belied tales would see the itiser.op,,e.) of the
ctitenw Mies hail so i1141g1144144.4.4, and grvi il n . , 1.,t was
toe) late fix /.14r02•,•1AirS 5 et l'iad it its
Illts.i 4•41M/ST 1u du awes a pail i,t the t sit al ..1. they had
created ; his connate to Olen. was,lliat uu it to
time.

The it, Wt.,* hei.qt tht•.l put bunt the e 1.411,
I+• . tl tliAl it v. as rar tit..st his iatration
.tac.g to opia,iou of his llou.

JUN:P..B

wlliet. had produced the ;•••ohitiotts before the !loose ; but he
tbircred front the ooi rimed in those resolte ions, with
rewect to univer..: beer and annual Parliaments. The
Mellttler, i,l ti 11. moon. speed., proceeded to reply Po
the argsmoots fir F. ILirtiett, ao I conclude., by oh-
suryittg, thst he who attempted to clytieate e:u.y evil of the
I.'somitut tit l I.CI, was V (pally Out vuolity to bring about
Reform, as he who shonld state that 00 Reform was tweet-

nary.
Mr. cifftyrtsio a' served, that he should, before he sat down,
move for foie oilier C-rtiers of the [Say. He was against all
genoe;l, am I for !big 'kit he saw each demand was
plti y a p: etiminary step to mealier and mere serious demand.
in proaosiiii; Parliamentary Re form there were two modes to
Le adteiteil, either to carry hack the censtitution to some for.
flier period when it wa4 in its most flourishing state, or else to
ea-construct it altogether. If the first of these was to be
adopted, let the scrim' when the Constitution was in a more
flourishing state be named ; if the second, let the principles
of re.coustructicn be stated to the House.—(flear, hear!)—
Many arguments had been used on the subject without its
having been stated which of these or what other plan of Re-
form it welt intended to adopt. When annual Parliaments
were used, tli Constitution of the country was entirtly dif-
ferent from what it uow was ; there was then hat a small ter-
ritory to legislate for, whereas they had now to govern an cx
t'usive empire; and if the errors of that Constitutionwere not
painted ont, and such measures as the present were dldOpleil,
t Icy would be thrown on a wide field M theory to fond a new
constitution, and on this groom! it was that the Hon. Baronet
called upon the House to concur with him. if such was nut
Vie cas,-,why was the present Motion made t He thanked the
Hon. Baronet for having at length brought under their notice,
in a tangible shape, a subject whirls had been mulch talked
of, but the objects of which had not been fully defined until
now. There could be no danger anticipated from the spe-
cific plan of Reform, the danger was from having a set of de_
tiaioners going about without pointiie, out what real Reform
they wished. Let any man come with his plan of Reform in
his hand, and he was convinced that it would not stand a
moment's competition. It' any Hon. Member believed that
the lion. Member's Motion was practicable lie had a right to
listen to it; if any one believed that it ought to be carried
into effect, he had a right to support it ; but as be was con-
vinced that no such Motion ought to be entertained, and that
the public I ought not to be put into a ferment on the
subject, he should inuve," That the Orders of the Day lie
new read."
On the gnestion being put from the Chair,
Mr. LAX, would not, after the able discussion which the
subject bail received, trespass long on the atteation of the
House, but there were several points on which lie was anxious
that the House should know his opinion. He agreed with
the lion Baronet that led ridicule ought to he thrown on
persons holding the doctrine of the necessity of Parliamentary
Reform, for it wits evident (tom the numerous Petitions be-
fme the House, that such opinions were held ley many, al-
tisonek he deeply regretted Beat in consequence of the ex'
iiressioniof several Petitions the valuable right of Petition-
ing was in some measure Meant to fell luta disrepute. Uni-
versal suffrage was impossible, for it could not exist in bo-
roughs, as the persons who were to elect there were particu-
lar individuals, which was iliconsistent with such doctrine,
and it was evident that universal suffrage could not exist in
counties. Animal Parliaments never were the practical Cog-
witue of this country. for although in the reign of Edward
111. it was enacted that Parliament ?lionlel annually log
'-.olden, yet in the same reign no Parlionieeni was asse.abled
for a period of tereuty-one years. Parliament was assem-
ble-dos hen the exigiencesof the State required its attendance,
but not until the Revolution was it determined that Podia.
ment should annually be ots,embled. The wise and learned
men, who brought forward this measure, did not enact that
Parliament should be independent of the King, but that is
case of the King negleeting or refusing to assemble Parlia_
meet, measures should he adopted for its assembling. He
did not doubt that the Honourable Baronet brought forward
this measure from a persuasion of its utility to the country,
but there were many other individuals who interested them-
selves in this measure, men of great kuowlege of the potions
springs of Iwn►an actions, of deep reasoning, who wished to
Inrow the Mimic fabric of the monarchy into ileitis, that they
might fly with eclat on the fragments. From them and from
their machinations, dangers were to be feared.
Mr. W. SMITH expressed his conviction that the discussion
would prove eventually useful, inasmuch as it %tooth! lead to
the consideration of the matter, and from cousitieratious to
Lee most beneficial results. _ .

;lir F. Rot nrrr replied at ennsitlerabk length.
'1 he Home divided on Mr. ;;;; i t ig's Motiou—Ayes 106—
Noes none.
Lord COCHRANE presented a Petition from Wm. Cobbett,
of which the Clerk read a considerable part.
MrdFAZ 1/t EH t.Y then moved that the 'louse be eotinted,
vrliesr there not being forty Menders present, an adjourn-
ment necessarily touk place.

Wsrmir.su:Ar.
The Innkeepers' A2lowari:e Bill was pasta
LONDON BREWERS.

Mr. I.oc Kit ART presented the Report of the Brewers' Ccramittec,
..rd said, that after inquiring as far as six years previous to the date
of the Petition, they were satisfied that the t 1 great brewers used
~thing deleterious or illegal. Ile said that evidenze had been givea
:.a.t both deleterious and illegal mixtures were rld to the publicans,
it,gether with hooks of instru,lion for the use of them. The Coin-
nttee also considered the price at which Porter was now sold as a
f..:r one, wheel the expenses oldie brewers were consideresl. With
• respect tapublic.houres. of which brewers are proprietors, the Coin-
ratite did not think it wo-Ild he proper to interfere with those which
were now absolotc properl+ re,,numetaltal that the Magistrates
should refuse licenses ;o all hoese-! which should in future be pored
to have become brewers property.
Wr.cr /NDI k SLAVES.
Sir S. ROMILt r said, .'--t the barbarity stated in the Papers laid
before the House, of transactions in the West Indies, were not of
in :noel& importance as the perversion of criminal justice diryhwed
it them. He then described the death of a runaway slave, who was
teggetlochaincd to another, who had been Hogged also, and next day
tent to work, so chained ; lie fell dowmand was beaten until he died,
19, command of the manager named Rawlins. 'lite body was bit.
reil• but dug up the a coroner's inquest. Some surgeons examined
the body, and stated the numerous wounds and bruises on it. The
The Jury, nevertheless, found a verdict of--Lied by the Visitation
of God 1 One of the drivers was tried for the murder, and the
slave to whom the deceased was chained, at first proved that Raw.
Zings was itot present ; but on his ems examination he admitted that
Rawlins drove the gang *of slaves with the whip for half as hour.
Rawlins, a clergyman, was then brought to trial, and found guilty
only of manslaughter. for which he was fined 2001. and ordered to
he imprisoned three months. These facts were sufficient to thew
the corruption in the C4.lllrbe of criminal justice in the West Indies,
e:..e hew could the C or. s,: t•r'?; or the Petit Juries num such verdicts !
'I 11:2 Wald be tr.urler ut an acTLttal. Bat even if it had been man

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

I aughter, the sentence was too light for such atrocious conduct.
Ho then moved for copies of the depositions taken before the Coroner
on the body of this slave, who was killed in the Island of St. Chris-
topher.
Mr. Mannvav said, that the Ilonourable and I.eamedt;entleman
had. from the 'case of a single slave, drawn conclusions against the
whole administration of justice in the West Indies. The crime of
running away must Le punished, at the same time the punishment
should be proportioned to the strength. It was proved that this slave
was beaten with a stick ; but neither the manager, nor overseer. were
present when this slave was punished. nor was be beaten on the.
ground, neither did he express any violent sensation of pain.
__The
manager did not order him to be dogged ; and if he had. Nftuld not
have been guilty of murder, ma it would have been impossible to
have proved malice aforethought.
Mr. Gov remain hail no objection to the production of the papers
Mr. A. t; Awe read a letter, in which it was said, that not a man
in the colooy wished to screen Rawlins from the punishment of
death, except his own family.
Mr. W. SMITII said, the punishment of Negroes in the West
Indies was called cart-whipping. Upon a future occasion he should
shew that these punishments were too common. If the fa: is that !
bad come to this country had been al: trade known, some person*
who now hold their heads high in colonialki,islation would not know
where to hide them. . .

Mr. WitnEttroitcr said, the other asses of horrible atrocity
would soon be brought before the House. If it ware not for the no-
tice taken of these barbarities in this , the authors and actors
of them would never he brought to trial, and de,erved punishtr.er.t.
He had been informed that this Rawlins vent or. in a most itn-
proper way in thajail. receiving friends, &c. Ife.hoped this n.a:
would be stilrendtal from Holy Orders.
Sir S. Ito LLY replied. slid the motion teas agreed tn.
A long debate took place on a Motion of Mr. Brougham
Royal Comtribsion to enquire into abuses in Char.table Donations ;
which was negatived on a division of to SS.
The other orders were disposed of, arid the llouze adjourned till
Friday.

Mr. 13ENNET presented a Petition from Thom& Ilose, an inhabi-
tant of New South Wales, complaining of the coLduct of the fin-
senior Maequarrie, who deprived him of his license ; and another
from three other inhabitants of the same Colony, complainiug of
the inlliction of Corporal l'utishment on thee by tl.e. Crovecuor—
Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed.

POLICE,
Mr. IleteSTES..rel presenting the Deport of the Police Committee,
embraced the opportunity of calling the attention of the House to
the clatisitication &prisoners confined in the prisons of tin met:probs.
The House Should consider their situation, and in particular tat of
Cold )lath-fields, in which the Magistrates bad ix% during seven
years, made any written regulations. The Committee thought the
situation of many of the unfortunate persons truly lamentable, who,
after leaving the gaol in which they received •fficod and a place of
shelter. resembling the lazaroni of Naples, were forced, not by want
of disposition to labour, butby want of means, ti, main like wr, reins,
without support, except what they derived from the eliaritabloinstitu.
tions which private generosity established and conducted, and who,
from thepressure of setae want, frequently committed crimes which
they abhorred. The Committee had also received evidence tospeeting
the utility of the infliction of capital punishment, as well as of
traniportation. The number of persons abo had been removed
horn this kingdom to thecolony whereconviets were obligoillo tabour,
was 3106. of which 1916 were condemned lobe transported for Oven
years only. The costs for the removal of convicts, had, since t9t4.
exceeded four millions. It was to him a subject of deep regret, to
behold the necessity of punishment increasing. To anoffitt im-
portant point, the situation of the domestic police, he wished the
House should attend:for it appeared !Mitre the Committee, that the
office of constable was frequently executed by deputy, which itn-
proper practice was productive of the groskit corruption, and most
flagrant breaches of the laws. These dewtiesbeing not well paid,
Would AM be tolerated in derivuig profit trims she ignotaativid die
unwary, whom they deluded when opportunity was favAmlile.
He hoped the House would next. year, without being influenced
either by prejudice or passion, take the subject of licensing into
consideration, and by devising some adequate means, prevent many
youths who frequent these improper places, from proceeding in the
paths of wickedness, until they reached the height of crimes. The
Committee had laboured much in the investigation of these matters,
and he hoped their labour would be attended with beneficial results.
lie therefore moved that the report be printed.
General 'fititirToir thought that the House of Correction was
sufficient, if well regulated, to support itself, from the produce of
the labour of the convicts. In consequence of the bad measures
adopted by Governor Aria, the institution had been injured, but lie
trusted, front the good measures of the present Governor, that it
would hereafter prove of great utility.—The ltcport was ordered to
be printed.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL gave roti,:z, it wa: his intention
at an early period of the next Session, to bring the Insolvent Debt-
ors' Act under the consideration of the House.