The Sun.
London, England, 1806-03-11 00:00:00

LORD ME LVI LLE

Mr. IPHITBRE.AD Moved the Order of the Day
I.)r the farther consideration of the Report of the
Committee. appo.pted to prepare. a -farther- Artkle
of Impeachment against Henry Lord Viscount Mel-
ille ;
which being- done; the lleport was. read and
2greed to.. `.Vhe Cominittee obrai'ned liberty to draw.
_up an Additional Article,,.of Impeachment in terms
'tncreof; Which Mr.Whitbread immediately brought
up. It was ali.6,agteed to, and Mr. AVintbread had.,
Oder.: to carry it to _the Larch, Fie accordingly left
the acconipanied -by several Members, and
op his return informed the House that he had pre-
v.futed the Additionaill-sticle of Impeachment at the
Bar of the House of Lords.

, .
R F.'fiT VG ACT'
Mr. 77.E;RA;L1tr;),e,;pgr2c,:bly to notice, to nioye
leave to bring,,inn.a 1.;Al to, expl:nn and: render
rt-;37e effeaual tilts =A6? rv.:Fsed in ,the ;Reign °Thing
cor#nnonly. caned the TreAtiz-Ig in
doing So the Right Hono-,:trAle 'Gentleman' en
"terA at considetbie-li4ngth.into a statement of the'
inc:)nveniencies resulting from a v,-r.nt of nniformitv
even in the decision of the Cu.c,.`..i in Westminster
Hall, ou the subjeq •of this A{..l-. There was, he
conceived, nothing in the A t. -:Hch warranted. my
fair line of distinEtion and non-re-
, sident' lfle&ors. Yet dc:T.:.,ons were to tie
,fOund
laying 'it dotm that ‘:' of carriages, bf a
, compensation for time, ,:f refreshments, &c.
ruisht, legally be 'paid Can
resident :Ele6to-i.s. To fits to wiEt!...
might•be to furnished, and t was
the -Objra of his present Motiocl, it. Was
intention; tolpi-opose tot for
Taying sums to Eleaors on a:: :,ccouni er,
S:_Lch, he waf convinced, was the 7-)riginal
of the Adt i'vhich he wished to have explained.
A r-eneral remedy must have ben in the contem-
plal-ion of the Legislature, not on::: by which three-
fourths of the Eleaors of this Co.-intry were t 6 be
left out totally and entirely from the ben7-f1c.11.1 cf-
feHs Of the AR-. But
,it might be :star:::;in
convenience that (his UM, if cal tied into en'ea, would
go to disiranchise three-fourths, of the persons v,-ho
t 1-)res2nt vote!A in Eteafons. L. he really the ht
this wOuld the reSult, he •either would not i>> IL';

in his Bill, or lie would attempt to fall -on
means' of 'remedying the evil. Ha' apprehended,
llowevei, it .would be f:iund in unny c:: that

• -
-where a man lost his Vow non-re.,ioence in one
piJc; 1W procurel the riglit in anoti]cr. Their-
c:unstan,cci of .not residing- too was th.! a&.t f)f The
him f° If, t

an Ipconvell tr.ce

to h:111 frolli It on
iii i it was ridiculous that lic should ItavQ it iu his

power to transfer it ta., the shoulders of the Candl7
date. Non-residence waa.:not only the act of the
Voter, but' it was natural te.;presunge that he chose it
for his owns profit. In Cotinty Eleetions he admitted
the case was different---tau( still he cc:intended, that,
even there the eleCtive franchise, not being for the
benefit of the Candidate, but of the Eledor, the
person etorcising it roust do so at his own expence—
The hardship of subjeCling Freeholders of 40s. a
year to the expence of corning from a great distance
at their own e.xipence; or of losing their right' of
voting,.
he"was'.awaie would be urged ; but- he
begged that the origin of that right would bd looked
into. It would be seen it originated in the Reign of
Henry Vt. when the-value of money was very great
in comparison to what it Was at this moment, and
the rate then fixed might be safely reckoned as equal
to 301. a 'year at the present day. It might be
esteemed a hardship if an Aet were to beintroduced
for taking into consideration the depreeiation of mo-
ney since that time, and raising.a qualifiCation for
a Freeholder to 301. a year, not would the Right
Honourable Gentleman vote for such a Measure :
but still it would be equally hard to make this de-r,
preciation,- in the valne of money fall on the Can-
clidate: Probably, the evil might be remedied by ap-
pointing that in great- Counties, such as York, the
suffrages should be collected in' different -places,
ther than according to the, present mode. The
Right Hon: Gentleman proceeded to point out some
of the many advantages that would result from the
; adoption of a-measure similar to that now,proposed,
and. ,coneluded 'oy moving for leave to 'bring in the
Bill.
Mr: Secretary FOX could -not be brought to
think lightly of the difficulties which presented;
themselves to the framing of a Bill similar to that
proposed by his Right Hon. Friend. The right of
a Freeholder to 'the extent of 40s. he had always
understood 'was to_ be held equally sacred; with that
of one to the greatest possible extent ; .nor should '
be agree to that right' being taken away by any aft
of his. If the Right Hon. Gentleman introducecta
Bill for raising the qualification of an EleCtor to 301.
or any other sum, he (Mr. Fox) should. feel himself
called on to oppose it to the utmost of his power. 'And •
if it was not right to do so directly, it was not right to
do so indirealy. In the case of Boroughs, too, he saw
many difficulties present • themselves. 'ln the case
of that body., which it was so necessary for the
Country at this moment to eneourage and ang-
ment—the- Military—did the' Right Hoh. Gentle-
`. man wish thattheyaliould be disfranchised ? That
the Militia particularly, because they were, by bal-
lot,' sent into a distant County in the service of their
King and Country,' should, as a reward, be dis-
franchised and deprived of their .rights ay Citizens ?
The Right Hon. Secretary did not state these .as ob-
jeCtions- to the bringing in of the Bill, but merely
to shew that the difficulties in it were great : he
agreed that it was proper that doubts shotfld be put
an end to ; but he was afiaid they would not be en-
tirely reinoyed by the Bill-proposed.
Mr. TIERNEY explained.
Mr. LEIGH Said a few words, principally on the
grounds alluded to by Mr. Fox.
Sir 11.. Bo x-ros observed, that the Right Hon.
Mover had distinguished the Eledive Franchise as 7
being the right of the Vc er. It was a right given
to them 'to execute for the benefit of the Public
at large.
The quetion was then put, and leave given to
Mr. Tierney to bring in the Bill.