The National Register.
London, England, 1809-05-07 00:00:00

THE NATION L REGISTER.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

Monday the long-qpnounced Mc -tirg of the Friends and
Advocates Of Parliamentary Reform wa3 held at the Crown and
Anchor Tavern, Strand. At five o'cli,c4 tilr doors of the great
ball-room were thrown open, and the press for admission was
so great, that in a few minutes all the places, con,isting of 6SO
covers were filled ; as many more, it was computed, were dis-
appointed in their endeavours to obtain seats.

- About a quarter past five o'clock,- Sir Francis Burdett enter-
ed the room and took the Chair, amidst a burst of acclamations;
and dinner being over, proceeded to open the business of the
Meeting, which he considered as a matter as interesting to the
security of the Throne, as it was to the liberties and the happiness
cif the people. He desired the company to considr what they
would feel if a number of persons were to go down into the country
among the proprietors of large landed estates, and to meet toge-
ther, and to insist tin their having the management of those
states, whether the owners choosed them or not. This he con-
sidered to t tan: condition of the majority of the present House
of Commons; and that such a condition of things required
amendment, was a proposition much too plain for argument.
lie retmnm. tided to the Meeting a perusal of the Report which
Was made of the state of the representation in the year 1793, by
A Society called " The. Friends of the People," and by which
it appeared that 154 iedividUals returned a majority of the House
of Commons. From such -A state of representation much evil
was to be expected, and much indeed had been lately exposed
by the persevering exertion'of his Mend Mr. Wardle, to whom
the country was infinitely indebted for the discovery of so man
abuses, and Which had more effect than all the Reports of Coat-
missioners .to disclose any of them. All this' he maintained
led to a reforMation in Parliament. It might be tasked,
what did the friends of reform want ? the an4yer was—They
did not seek for innovation ;- tity claimed nothing hut their
ancient rights, for which 'their forefathers -bled., and trans-
mitted to their children the inheritance. • The' principles laid
dr, w n in Magna Charta—tfie Petition of Rights—and the fill of
Rights—the Act of Succession, too, recognised all these rights
and liberties of the subject ; —principles on which, and on Which
alone, the present family was placed upon the Throne ; and they
sere the only principles which the present Meeting Was held' to
promote ;—principles for an opposition to which King .lame
the Second had been driven from the Throne,and another family
had been allowed to ascend h.—He then took notice of the effect
of modern corruption, and instanced the case of Lord Castle-
reagh, who had attempted to barter a Writership in India far a
seat in the Jlou-e of Commons, and particularly of the defence
which had been set up for him by his own colleagues—that he
had not been able to accomplish the act of corruption which he
began. He contrasted this case of Lord Castlereagh' liith
that of a person of the name of Hatnlin; whit was convicted
of offering a bribe to Mr. Addington, ••then Chancellott of
the Exchequer, now Lord Sidmouth, by which heirtis entirely
ruined. Ile noticed also the severe sentences which many other
persons groaned under in prison, and have done so fq years, for
crimes less dangerous to society than that whiCh Lord Cas
tiereagh, a Minister of State, had hero adMitted tit be guilty.
Retook a view of the case of the Duke of York. lle had no hisi-
tat ioo in saying, that the people of England did not look with the
name critical eye on the foibles of the Royal Family as on those
of other persons, and 'they would overlook many faults in that
quarter, if they were allowed in other respects the benefits of
constitution. was glad to tiod' that his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales stood entirely'free from all suspicion' of
connection with any of the late unfortunate transactions which
has been brought•to light. He complimented Country Gentle-
milt for their patriotism, and particularly Mr. Coke of Nor-
folk, and wished the defence of the country 'to be left to such
persons, and theirtenantry in general, and condemned the prac-
tice of giving commands of any forces for the defence of this
island to forcigners.--He wished to see the plough and the sword
held by the same hand, as far as regarded the defence of the
country. In a word,- he asked no more for the people of Eng-
land than what a loyal people might expect, and what a just,
Upright; wise, and munificent King might grant.
• - Ills speech was greeted' with great applause.
Sir F.' Burdett called the attention of the Meeting, and said,
" Gentlemen, I beg leave to give you fora toast that' person
who i 3 most interested in the measure which we are met to
promote—

Tim King, and the Principles n hich seated his Family en the
Throue--( With three times three).

" Centlemen, the next toast I shall p ropose to you is
who, next the King, are almost equally interested in the
ititutior I reilre!..i of the corruptions of the country, I mean
The People—( With three times three).
The Progress of PnYie Opinion—(fVitli three).
A SpPe.ly Reform in the Representation of the People—;•
(With three limes three).
The Causejor which llaznpden bled in the Field, and Sydoey
0:: the Scaffold.

Major Carta right then proposed the Resolutions, whiO, are
as follow

RESOLUTIONS, IST 3I,11", 1809.

Resolved, 1. That it is " the grand principle of the Con.iti•
Intim), that the People shall have a share in the Goveroment, by
ajust Representation in Parliament,"
That the long duration of Parliaments greatly facilitate
the corruption of the .Members, and rewoves that wholesome
check or controul on their conduct, a frequent recurrence to ire
opinion of their Coimituems.

111. That in Petition presented to the House of Commons
en the &It of May, 1793, it was oitcred to be proved at the Bar,
" that 15-1 indi% iduals did, by their own authority, appoint or
procure the return of SOT Members of that }louse" (exclusive of
those from Semi:out), " who were thus enahled to decide all
questions in the name of the whole People of Great Britain."
IV. That in the Act (commonly called the Act of Settlement)
which placed the !louse of Brunswick on the Throne of these
Realms, it was asserted and recognised as the Constitutional
principle, that no person who " has an office or place of profit
under the King, or receives a pension frota the Crown, shall be
capable of serving as a Member of the House Commom.."

V. That it appears by a Report laid on the table, of the
Rouse of Commons in June last, that 13 of its members are in
the regular receipt under (he Crown of 175,994!. a year.
V.I. That in 1782 it was declared by Mr. Pitt in the Rouse
of Commons, that " Seven or eight Members of that House were
sent there by the Nabob of Arcot, and that a foreign State iu en—
mity to this country might procure a party to act for it under
the mark and character of Members of that House."

VII. That such a state of Representation is a national griev-
ance.

VIII. That in every department of the State into which in-
quiry has been made, scandalous corruptions and abuses have
beef) detected.

IX. That the exclusion of the public voice from all influence
in, arid the consequent corruption of, the Government the
Continental States, have been t lie causes of their subjugation.
X. That so long as the people shall not he fairly represented,
corrnptitin will increase; our debts and taxe.s will accumulate ;
our resources will be dissipated ; the native energy of the pen--
pie will be depressed; and the country deprived of its best de-
fence against foreign foes.
Xl. That to.remedy the great and glaring evils of which we
complain, it is not necessary to have recourse to theoretical
specsdations, or dangerous experiments in Government, but to
recur to the principles handed down to us by the wisdom and v
tue of our forefathers.
X 11. That the remedy is to be found, and to be found only
in a full and fair Representation of the People in the Commons
lit.,itse of Parliament ; a remedy equally necessary to the safety
of the Throat., and the llappiness and Independence of the
Country.
ss X 111. That we therefore recommend to every Town, City,
and County, to take the state of the Representation into con-
sideration, and urgently, but temperately, to apply to Parlia-
ment to adopt such measures as shall secure to the Nation the
Reality and Uses of Representation.
• Ity. Maddocks seconded the Resolutions, and with great plea-
sure; for in his conscience he believed that they contained the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Having
pledged himielf in hitt place in the House of Commons to bring
fortVard the question of Parliamentary Reform, no considera-
tion should induce him to abandon his purpose. There were 26
burkage 'tenures, that were private property, which returned 54
uneinbers; there were 51 boroughs, the voters in each of which,
did nci!. on the average exceed 50 in number; which boroughs
returned 100inembers; 23 boroughs, in each of which the num-
ber:of voters did not exceed 100, returned 45 members; 25 ho-
rittif,,,lis, in each of which the voters did not exceed 200, returned
56 member'.---At tHe'end of the list there were two unfortunate
bdretighs, thevoter4 of which did not exceed 300 who returned
four members; 257 members, being precisely a majority of the.
leatrin: members of the House of Colmaons of England, were re-