The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-15 00:00:00

number of electors would receive twenty guineas each, and I
then go up to the hustings, and take an oath, before their I
God—(Cheers)—that they had received no promise or
gratuity whatever for their votes—(Hear)—and that was
what the Hon. Gentleman opposite nas pleased to cell
inorality.—(Hear.) lle said again, that if they had not
given an answer before, it was not because they were un-
able to do so. He did not think that they were confuted
upon either the I,w or the morality of the question. The
present system was contrary to both—contrary to every
known rule of law, and contrary to every known rule of

morality.--(Chpers.)
Mr. C. FERGUSSON said, that observati.ms had been
made about individuals pledged to vote upon this Bill. He
was not one of those who were pledged, and as he had been
alluded t he must say that he was as independent as any
Member in that House. He was nut before aware that
Bishops' Castle was an independent borough. He asked
the Hon. Member for that borough, whether he was inde-
pendent enough, if he should change his opinion in the
course of the discussion, to change his vote also, or
whether, if he did so, he would not receive an intimation
from a certain Noble Peer, that, as this was the first, so it
should be the last time he sat for that borough ? He (Nit-.
C. F.) denied that nominee Members of that House ever
could be independent. He had looked at the papers ex-
hibiting the state of the constituency of England, and he
found that by the present system eight bons, s returned no
less than twelve Members It was that system which this

13ill went to cut up by the roots. Whenever such a system
was in existence, he should wish it to be destroyed ; and
if any Hon. Member would prove that any other borough
besides those included in Schedule A ought to be included

in it, he would give that Member his support in a motion

to disfranchise such a borough.

Mr. KNIGHT, in answer to the question just put, de-
clared that his seat did not depend on his vote on this or

any other question. Whatever might he the case with
other Members, he wished to state that he never would
have accepted a seat on such terms. He was as free and
as unpledged as any Member for the greatest county in
England, and he believed freer too.—( Hear, hear.) It be
should take on this or any other question a line of conduct
different from his constituents —not different from any one
particular person among them—he might, from a feeling
of delicacy, resign his seat—(o:), and hear, hear)—but

from no other motive.
Mr. HUNT wished to say a few words. There hat
been an appeal made to the people, and they were now
threatened with another. The appeal that had been made
had been answered. The people of England had been
misled by the gross, false, and scandalous misrepresenta-
tions of the public press. He knew what he was courting
when he said this, but he feared not that beastly press.—
He knew what it would say ; but be was not afraid of it,
nor of the tauntings of that press. He did not accuse the
gentlemen who repot ted the proceedings of that House—
(Order, hear, question)—many of whom were Honourable
men ; but he had accused their employers that day by day
and night after night they misrepresented what took
place in that House.—(Cries of question.) A great
portion of them he would not say were in t':e pay of the
Ministers—(Laughter)—but they were bribed by some
means or other by the Government.—(Loud laughter.)—
There were such things as Government advertisements.
(Renewed laughter.) That Press, the leading journal of
which some few short months ago were up to the neck in
the support of the Duke of Wellington's Government, the
moment that it saw the Government changed, that corrupt
Press took up the cause of the new Government, and not
only supported the new Government in all their measures,
but even went beyond thern.—(Renewed laughter and
cries of question.) If the Press gave any account of what
took place there that night, the people would see what was
going on there.—(Continued laughter.) There was
nothing but continual taunts on one side and the other,
instead of discussion upon the question that was before the
House,—(Laughter, and cries of hear, hear, hear ! and
question.) There had been nothing but personal attacks
on one another.—(Hear, hear, bear.) The people of Eng •
land, when they began to reflect on this measure, would not
be so will and mad in favour of this scheme as they had
been. Up to this time he believed that the Government
had had no share in deluding the people. He had in his
hand a little thing—(Shouts of laughter)—that he believed
they knew something of, and he should be able to show
that the Government had assisted in keeping up the delu-
sion. That was a medal cast at Birmingham in comme-
moration (pretty hastily to be sure) of the passing of this
Bill. He believed that this medal was originally got up
by a gentleman at Bath. One medal, cast in gold, was
sent to the King, and one to three of his Majesty's Minis-
ters.—(Laughter.) One was given to the Noble Lord who
had introduced this measure, another was sent to the Lord
Chancellor, and another to the Noble Lord at the bead
of his Majesty's Government.—( Question, question,
question.) It related entirely to the question.—( A laugh.)
On one side it began, " William IV., Earl Grey, Lord
Brougham, Lord John Russel, and the People_
(Cheers)—Silos Populi suprema Lex." (Cheers.)
On the other side there was the word " Reform" in the
centre, and radiating from it, " Representation, Eng-
land, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales— (Cheers) —the
Church, the Law, Aristocracy, Boroughtnongers—
(Cheers)—Public Expenditure—(Cheers)—the Army,
the Navy, Corporations, the Corn Laws—( Hear, hear,
hear)—Slavery, Immorality—(Cheers)—Sinecures, Bank
Charters, India Charters, Colonies, and the Currency ;"
and the motto was, " The Rights of the People—
(Cheers)—Commerce, Trade, Cheap Bread, and Happi-
ness." If all was true that he had heard, he understood that
his Majesty's Ministers had received these medals, and had
returned a most gracious answer to those who sent them,
thanking them for the present. He asked either
of them if this was true ? He would put one ques-
tion to them on this subject. There were a great
number of things mentioned on this medal that were not
meant to be reformed by this measure. He asked whether
they meant to reform the Corn Laws, and to give the
people cheap bread.—(Question, question.) Tbat was
an unpleasant question to them, no doubt—he knew it
was, but the people of England—the starving people of
England—would not think it unimportant. —(The cries of
" question," and other signs of impatience were loudly
continued.) Hon. Members did not want an adjournment.
—(Oh, oh, oh.) He had those around him who had
promised always to second him when he had made that
motion.—(Loud cries of hear, bear, and name, name.)
If they wished for the name, let them continue their in-
terruptions—he would move the adjournment, and they
would know what was the name.—(Question, question.)
The Hon. Member for Worcester, before the concluaion
of the late Parliament, had said that he (Mr. Hunt)
would not be in that House again. But there he
was. Ile believed that there would be more nomina-
tion after this Bill than before. To show this, he
would refer to a nomination borough, not one belonging
to any gentleman of the other side ; as he did not wish
to be, personal—(A loud laugh)—he would refer to a
borough belonging to a gentleman on that side of the
House. He would refer to the borough of Newark. In
that borough there were now from 1,200 to 1,400 voters.
When this Bill was passed, the number of voters would
be under 300, and every one of the houses giving a vote
would be a house in the possession of the Noble Proprietor.
Now for Preston. That borough was not in schedule A
nor in schedule B, although it was meant to snake it again
a rotten borough, as it had been for many }ears past.
There were now 7,000 voters in the borough, and that
number would be reduced to 900, and they would be
under the power and influence of the Noble family that
had now kept them in thraldom for above half a century.
Mr. CROKER wished to say one word which should
be strictly upon the question before the Committee. We
hoped the House would understand, on the division which
they were just going into, that the word " each" was not
to be taken in reference merely to its grammatical con-
struction, hut that the question was, whether there should
be a total disfranchisement? No matter what were the
mere words of the clause, for if the main question was
carried, it would be left open to any Member to retain or
disfranchise any borough mentioned in the schedule.
The Committee then divided—
For the amendment 193
Against it. 290
Majority 97
On our re-admission to the gallery, we found the CHAIR-
MAN of the Committee putting the question, that he quit
the Chair and ask leave to sit again. It was decided in the
affimative, and the House was resumed.
The other orders of the Day were then disposed of, and
the House adjourned at One o'clock.

The French Government have directed that
vessels from British ports to any in the department of the
Seine Inferieure, must be provide,' with a regular bill of
I'ewhich will be signed, gratis, by the French Consul-
General iteirl' and his agents.
ST. LEoN.—(Standard Novels, No. V. just
published.
)—" This splendid Romance," it has been well
remarked, " will carry down the fame of GODWIN to late
n
posterity. It is unnecessary at the present day to enlarge
upon the peculiarities of this work—to dwell upon the
imaginative vigour which it displays—the eloquence by
which it is adorned—or ' the learned spirit of human
'ber which the author has succeeded in his daring
excite the deepest interest in the fate wf beings
tisingeP: to
situation is without parallel. Among works of
fiction, it is universally allowed that St. Leon has no
sadwhtutecpateoileo'rni r