The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-19 00:00:00

REFORM MEASURE.

Lord JOHN RUSSELL then rose and said—Sir, I feel,
and there can be no doubt of the fact, that however cau-
tious the House may be to go into a Committee upon
the Bill for amending the representation of the people
in Parliament, as I had already stated that there are
certain alterations proposed by his Majesty's Mini-
sters before it ought to he discussed in Committee,
and as my announcement in that respect has led to observa-
tions svhiol, I feel cannot pass entirely without answer,
I feel it incumbent to enter into these explanations which I
trust will satisfy the House, both that the Government in
their original principle acted fairly and impartially, and
that in proposing the alterations which it is their inten-
tion to introduce, they are not abandoning but carrying
into effect the principle on which the Bill is founded.—
(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.")—But, Sir, before I en-
ter upon this matter, I cannot help contrasting
the situation in which I stand now, with that
in which I stood when I brought forward the
measure upon the Ist of March. Whatever anxiety
I miy feel now, it is an anxiety mixed with feelings of
pride and satisfaction that the measure which the Ministers
of the King thought it their duty to propose, as one which
they consider calculated the best fir the promotion of the
future welfare of England, has been stamped and sealed by
the approbation of that people for whose benefit and
advantage it is solely intended.—(Loud cheers.)—
This very night Sir, since I have been in the House, I
have heard the Hon. Member for Preston, who is no
very partial friend of this Bill, allege that it is im-
possible for the Press of England not to stand
forward as the fearless advocate of the measure,
for if they were not to take such part, it would be impos-
sible for them to find readers. Sir, another sign, and a
gratifying one, of:the opinions of the people, is the number
of addresses and petitions which have been sent up
from all parts of this united empire, both to the
Throne and to this House. I have looked a 'good
deal into these petitions, but as I may have overlooked
some, I will not venture to state the numbers presented on
one side or on the other. But one thing strikes me as
true, and can, I imagine, be proved most satisfactorily,
on examination, namely, that from the Corporations whose
rights it was said we were about to rob—that from the
boroughs we were about to spoliate, the petitions in favour
of this measure have been more numeroas than the peti-
tions on the other side. I will not mention all the
petitions. I may mention, however, the petitions of
corporations, a noble catalogue—at the head of which
Intends the Corporation of London—then of Canterbury__
then that of Portsmouth—of Gloucester—of Lincoln_.
of Derby, and of Bedford. Sir, there is one gratifying
sign that they feel that, however the privileges which they
enjoy are held by law, and cannot he taken from them ex-
cept by Act of Parliament, yet that they would not be
acting with that degree of consideration for the in-
terests of their country, which became them, if
they were not to profess their readiness to give
their willing assent to a measure which, if it did deprive
them of power, tended to give their fellow-citizens
privileges, which ought long ago to have been dif-
fused more generally, instead of being confined to those
very select and small bodies. But with regard to the feeling,
and approbation, and sentiments of the people of England,,
I have another test, which I borrow from the Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite, who, as he is in the habit of
frequently quoting past speeches, cannot surely find
fault with me, if, on this occasion, I adopt the
same course.—(Hear, hear.) In bringing forward
the Roman Catholic question, and in defending himself
against the charge that had been made against that Right
Honourable Member, because, he had not kept up hie
resistance to the Catholic claims with sufficient
pertinacity, he declared that he had asked a friend of his
to look into the votes of past years, with respect to
the opinions of their constituents upon the Catholic
question. He said he had taken fifteen counties and
twenty towns, in fact he had taken seventeen counties and
twenty-two towns, but that difference alters not the principle
upon which he proceeded, as a test of the opinions .of
the people of England. In his speech, which had
been published under his sanction and approbation,
he had said that in considering these votes so given,
be was furnished with a practical and constitu-
tional method of determining the sense of the people.
Now, Sir, I am going to adopt that same practical
and constitutional method to ascertain legitimately the
sense of the people in reference to this measure. I will go
over the :ery counties and places which he mentioned
in the Catholic question, and I will refer to
the votes which they gave in referenco to that measure.
Of the representatives of 17 large counties 27 had voted
tor, and
deonNlyonrfi,n,l,
ekagsatianffsotrtdh;Eßsseillx.-:
i(iCtahneep.rhsi.r) This list
e,
Lincoln-
of counties included Yorkshire, Devonshire, Kent, Surrey,
Somerset,
shire, Gloucester hire, IVoreestershire, and Warwickshire.
—(Hear.) In the list of the Members for the large towns
he had the same reason to be satisfied with the result. He
took 22 large towns, one of which (Colchester) had only
one Member in the House at the time the votes were taken,
rad out of that list containing 45 Members, be found that
39 bad voted for the Measure, and only six against it.

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