The National Register.
London, England, 1822-04-28 00:00:00

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THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

Lon Don :
EUNDAY, APRIL 2S.

It often happens that the political

the early part of the week are wholly unworthy of
observation, while those of its conclusion arc justly
entitled to serious consideration, and the present
week will exemplify this assertion to all those who
do not think the buffooneries of a Drawing-room
worth dwelling upon, amid the ruin and distress of
the country at large—we, therefore, pass on to
notice the proceedings in the I louse of Commons on
Wednesday and Thursday evening.—Sir Francis
Burdett, on the former night, brought forward his
-motion for an address to the Crowu, praying for the
remission of the remaining part of' Mr. Hunt's sen-
unce—a sentence, the cruelty of which has called
called down heavy censure upon the Bench that
tll:.ected it—a sentence which has appeared to every
impartial inn as partaking much more of a determi-
nation to pay off a long arrear of vengeance, than as
fairly meeting in its measurement of punishment, the
crime of which the Jury found him guilty, which
was only the minor part of the lightest count ; or,
23 Sir Francis properly called it, the minimum inter
,n no, if," said the Honourable Baronet, "an
imprisotnateut of' two years and a half were not too

THE NATIONAL REGISTER

much under such a verdict, how could Nlr. Hunt's

life have furnished the means of infliction, had the
Jury found him guilty generally upon all the five
counts, unless he had lived to the age of Methusalem,
and unless the Revetend Mr. Colston (one of the

mercifid visiting magistrates) had been of equi-lon-

- -
pvity, —but supposing his sentence not to have

been excessive under the intention of the Court,

that it should only extend to the safe custody of his

person, yet if a gaoler, whose very name is a disgrace
to human nature, had the power, and exercised it

too, of making his confinement doubly disagreeable

by his vexatious and brutal conduct, then every one

will agree that the excess of puuiskmcnt during its
continuance ought to shorten its duration—beyond
this Mr. Hunt had another claim to his Majesty's
mercy—he had detected and exposed the most in-
famous system of oppression and torture (which was
cherished in the gaol in question by the governor,
and had long remained unknown, unnoticed, un-
censured, or unredressed by the visiting magistrates,
who, if they had not neglected their duty, could not
have been ignorant of them) that ever disgraced a
civilized nation—yet all these claims were insuffi-
cient to weigh with the noble, Roman firmness of
Ministers, and they mustered their forces to negative
a motion, which having been carried in the affirma-
tive, would have redounded to the credit of that House,
whose credit does not stand very high with the
people at the present time—but not content with a
simple negative, one of them, a st USHROOII.SECILE.
TART (Mr. Peel), declared in his place, that even
if an unanimous vote of the House of Commons
should direct him to do so, still would he not re-
commend his Majesty to extend his mercy to Mr.
Hunt. This gentleman is the son of a respectable
English cotton-spinner, though our readers might
suppose him to be of Irish extraction, ar well from
the modesty of this arrogant declaration as from the
originality of his idea of " an unanimous vote" in
favour of a proposition to which he had declared his
opposition ; however, Administration's majority de-
clared against Sir Francis Burdett's humanity, and
Mr. Hunt is to remain the whole extent of his sen-
tence in prison, although his sufferings have confes-
sedly been double what the Court contemplated,
when it was pronounced.
On Thursday evening, Lord J. Russell brought
forward, with a force peculiarly his own, his rao.
I lion for Parliamentary Reform—his weight and the
importance of his opinions in the House of Com-
mons, is evinced by the silence whickprevails when-
ever he speaks, and rarely has he spoken more
conclusively—seldom has he advanced more incon-
trovertible arguments than on the proposition in
question. He observed, very truly, that the ques-
tion had been evaded from time to time, in every
possible way by those who profitted by the pre-
sent corrupt state of the Representation—at one time
the people did not want reform, because they did not
petition for it—at another the petitions were unwor-
thy of attention, beeanse the signatures appended
to them, formed a very inconsiderable part of the
populace of England—while at a third, it was de-
clared necessary that the House should disregard
them, lest it should be supposed that they had
attended to their prayer from fear, engendered by
the excessively extensive list of signatures—thus
every ground hail been successively taken and aban-
doned, which could be thought of, to oppose what
the people had a right to, and what the people
would have, and that soon too, y one means
or another.—Yet all this would not do—le cote droll
knew toe well that their wealth depends upon that
system, which according to their assertion works so
welL—Mr. Canning remembering his Lisbon Job
—his pensioned mother and sisters, his recent
lucrative appointment of Governor General of In-
dia, and the many other claims " the system" has
upon him, exerted all his talents (and while we regret
that he so infamously misuses them, we allow that
they arc by no means contemptible) "to make the