The Sun.
London, England, 1831-06-25 00:00:00

E 2.1.

t, at which
gallery was
e important
ught on this

er which the
ceiving pri-
e Bills.

mending and
le the river
time; also a
dre railway,

ing disputed
by the pay-
time.

!nd and en-
and Leigh

)r erecting a
:ding nem-
Inty of Wor.

3111 for erect -
The Church

nsoiidate and
in England,
printed.

.rented to his
ased to order
to be laid be-

from son •
rights might

The
ralte aglinst
he pc•itioners
vn, in which
sly.

on from the

borough of
petition was

lon. Member
to have been

he had beer
ly hive felt

instruptions

finer in which
!i ng pri-sentei
lie had been
ition was got
to the Cor-
ontaining the
1, it was di-
ard that there
fie controul of
!re threltencil
I not sign the
inhabitants at
f Reform, and
a Nob:c Land,
borough, were
!ref ire justified
the sentiments

ceive why the
by the 1-1:m.
:onfess that he
y that had been
of the Noble
{qn. Member's
iris themselves
fled by 140 of
inhabitants

Member had
begged to ask
aware tbat at
;reed to, it was
with the loss
• did not sign
was the bead
igh, was not

krealened. Ile
ainst the Noble
k! her side ; in-
(Mr. XV.) had
kan calumny in

a story was in
t was entirely
he Honourable
charges be did

p: iuted.

from the Chan-
raity of Oxford,
ent considerable
if the proposed
inward last ses-
many of its pro-
They stated that
rom the House of
vise to alter the
tte manner they
e of opinion that
abate the cor-
lembers to serve
•m the reduction'
pis house. They
to such a • liuge
:trties, and they
ition might be
the petition en-
from a highly

, who were not
or prejudices.
d to be printed.
in a Bill to pre-
( to the expente§
)ent, which was

address be pre-
ay be graciously.
use copies of all
.4 been received
nfeetions discioe
of the east of
vas highly neces-
intbrmation, and
ge of a general

lotion. He con-
!winded the copy
Board of Health
and that it would
;is composing the
ledge of the die-
ing it.
overnment could
tetion. He was
more to allay the
lay. He hoped,
objection to alter'
lies to extracte/
e copies of a vast
which were act

it all the opinions
dse relating to the
very desirous ei
re te sions of those
might be persos
ieen the disease'
either in this rr
this town froal

6 fly to sixty persons of great experience in the treatment
0; the disease, and who had been many years abroad,
Who may not have had the opportunity of communicating
t) eir information t 9 the public.
Mr.. ROBINSON hoped that Government would
t relax in any of those sanatory mea.ures
which they hail been so lauiblily adopting, for the purpose
id preventing the introduction of so dreadful a scourge into
this country.
After a few words in expl,nation from Mr. BARING,
tie motion was put and carried, but whether in the
original terms or not we could not collect from the noise
at that moment in the Hou.e

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, moved
that the whole House eo into a Committee of Supply.
The SPEAKER having left the chair, and the motion
for the Supply having he-en granted,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved the Or irr of the Day
on the . _

11,EVORM BILL.
The Chief Clerk having read the terms of his Ma-
jesty's Speech relating to the subject,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said—l rise, Sir, for the
purpose •of proposing in the name of the Govern-
meut a measure which, in their opinion, is cal-
culated to maintain unimpaired the prerogatives of the
Crown, the authorities of both Houses of Parliament, and
the tights and liberties of the people. Sir, in rising to
propose this measure, I cannot but a k, recollecting what
took place on a late occasion, that I may have the
bstiefit of a patient attention, a patient hearing of the ex-
Planation which I shall endeavour to give to the general
Principle of the measure which his Majesty's Ministers have
thought it expedient to introduce. I trust, Sir, that
°lt this occasion gentlemen will so far favour me as not
to repeat those gestures and contortions with which they
thought, during the late Parliament, this measure was at
once to be driven out of this House, and scouted by
the ridicule of a great party who were banded together for
thst purpose. Sir, however peat those sneers may
hive been, I feel perfectly confident of this, that his
Majesty's Ministers have neither yielded nor abated in
Consequence of the oppOsition they have met with—(lleer,
hear, hear)—nor have the jeers with which the first pro-
Petition of the measure was received—nor the misrepre-
sentation and libels with which the measure was
sought to be disfigured—nor the fair and able op-
position, which was made in this House by men of
great ta`ent and long experience; nor 'those more dange-
rous weapons with which the enemies of the measure
night impute to the Sovereign an intention different from
that of his constituted Ministers—none of those ob-taeles,
powerful as they have been, or powerful as they may he,
Lave prevented' the Sovereign, his Ministers, and the
people from pursuing that which has been an object at once
to those who love the ancient forms of the Constitution,
and to all who are attached to the rights and liberties of
the people.—(Loud cheering.) Of the conduct of the
Sovereign to his Ministers, it most certainly does not
become me in this place to speak, but Sir, I cannot
proceed any further without saying, in few words,
how much I admire, and how muck 1 think is worthy
a all praise and glory, the conduct of the people of
Erglend.—(Louti cheers.) I say this, Sir, without
tetetence to any merits of-the measure which, has been
50 highly sanctioned by the great zeal and universal appro-
bation of his Majesty's subjects.—(Hear.) I say inde-
pendently, that what has been sacrificed by the perfect
devotedness of the humblest class of people to what
they thought was their duty to their country, is an
example which England may well be proud of to
the latest generation.--(Loud and long•continued cheers.)
Sir, it has been said that the late elections were elections
governed not by reason hut by passions.—(Hear, bear,
hear hear.) If you mean by impassioned feelings, love to
their couttry, 1 will not deny it—(Hear, hear)—because,
out of love to their country, they came forward with
a zeal unequalled. Nothing but passionate maim-
hlastn, which leads most men to overlook all
their own petty interests ; nothing but a true spirit
of patriotism could have persuaded men who are
Only in the receipt of a few shillings a day
to give up all the price, all the temptations, that were
offered to thetn—(Cheers)—to give up, after all that has
been insinuated, I boldly assert it—to give up in many
Instances the continuance of themselves and their children
in the enjoyment of some permanent privilege for
the sake of—for the sake of what ? why, for the
sake of a measure which was not for their benefit, but
Which they conceived to be calculated for the future be-
nefitn4 _.(
ilzdwelfare of the millions who p..:ople these
k
Immense app'a'ls:.) And Sir, I think it
tray be well for some who ere disposed never to
speak of the multitude without certain expressions of
divaragement and contempt,—it may be a lesson to them
(and I should have thought they would have bene-
fited by it sooner) not to speak in future of any
'lt's of his Majesty*s subjects, in a manner from
Which I am sure his Majesty himself would at
once recoil.—(Loud cheering.) Because whatever may
be the station of a man—whatever may be his
calling if he, in the pursuit of an honest
—in-
dustry, acts independently and conscientiously, I
know not why that man's zeal, be he ever so poor, even
if he he mistaken, is not worth as much of our respect
as that of the proudest and noblest member of this
House, who conscientiously offers his opinion in op-
position to the treasure which I have now the honour to
bring for ward.—(lmmense cheering.) Sir, with these
observations, I shall venture to go on to speak of the mea-
sure which I am about to introduce. With regard to
the general features, and also as to the details of that
measure I shall not enter this day, particularly into them,
because, as they are the same as the Bill which was before
the late Parliament—(llear, hear)—and as the slight im-
provements which have been made—(Hear, hear)—are
improvements solely intended to carry into effect the
principles of that Bill—(Much cheering)--I think it will
be quite sufficient if I leave the consideration of all
the details of this great measure till the period when this
House shall have sanctioned the first and second reading,
and the Bill is about to go into a Committee.—(Cheers.)
Hut, Sir, although I should not feel it necessary
to explain the particulars of the Bill, yet, I do think,
when this House has been called together for the ex-
press purpose of debating this great question—a question
affecting deeply and entirely the construction of this
House, I do think it respectful to this Honourable
House to perform the duty of endeavouri: g to lay
before them in some measure wbat the principle of our
ancient representation has been, what the representation is
under our present laws, and what i•;, will he generally, anti
largely speaking under the measure which we purpose
to introduce.—(Cheers.) Sir, if we go back to the origin
of our re; resentative Constitution, we shall find without
entering into the circumstances of Europe, what at
that titre were the cause of the changes—we
shall find, I say, that about . the same time
the towns and cities of other parts of Europe
hail representative Constitutions ; that in some
Countries, as in France and Spain, the people
Were represented by assetnblies that were formed
from cities at certain parts; that in other parts
Such as in Germany and Italy the towns had indepen-
dent constitutions. With respect to our own country,
for a long period there was no regular or defined
representation of certain cities and boroughs in this
House. The sheriffs of the different counties were direct-
ed to send two citizens from every city, and two burgesses
from every borough, and this comusand they obeyed,
• just as they found that the cities and boroughs were able
to hear the expence of the return of those Members. I have
got a statement of the state of the returns about the period
to which 1 refer. In Henry the Sixth's time, the sheriff
• for the county of York returned Menthe's from York and '
Scarborough, and stated that there were no other cities or
boroughs from which members could be sent. The most
remarkable county, perhaps, was the county of Lancaster,
in which Lancaster was the only borough declared
competent to send a Member. In the Ist of Elward
111. Lancaster and Freston sent Members ; and in the
38th of the same: reign the sheriff returned that
there was not any citizen in that borough from ma hich a
Member could come to Parliament by reason of inability
from poverty. This was the manner for 250 years this House
Was constituted ; about 110 or 120 boroughs sent "nem-
hers constantly, and some 30 ; others sent them from
time to time, the sheriff taking ilium himself to enforce
or dispense with the attendance of the burgesses of the
county over which be presided, according to the expence
to send them and their ability to bear it. It will, there-
fore, be seen during this first period of our Constitution,
that nothing could be much more irregular—nothing less
systematic than the right to send Members to Parliament.
However, a second period commenced about the time of
Henry the Sixth, and which goes to the end of the Tudors.
uPon looking over the list of boroughs enumerated in
schedule A, the larger proportion of them are not
places which have become enlarged in the course
of time; but, on the cor.trary, the greater number
of boroughs in Cornwall, for instance, and in other parts
of the country, were enabled during the reign of the Tu-
"rig to send burgesses to serve in Parliament. ' I con-
Felied it necessary, and have looked at some of these, and
it -is proved that out of fifty-five boroughs which we pro-
Pose to disfranchise in schedule A, there are 45 of them
included in boroughs created or restored in these seisms.
No I do not pretend to argue that these boroughs are
more in our power for disfranchisement, because they are

more Iter aneirot. but I mention it as a remediable fait
showing that a power of sending Members to Parliament
eiven by the Princes of the Tudor Family, was rather with
the intention of having dependants of the Crown on this
House, than with a view of etrengtbening the represen-
t:6:m of the country. Now, Sir, during the whole of
that time this power of enabling burgesses to send
Members to Parliament was undisputed, and I
will only mention the instance of Esst-Lone
to confirm the fret. So that, during the second period, front
the cemmencement of the reign of Henry VI. to that of the
Tudors, there was likewise irreeularitv, and a Constitution
unsettled. and a power of enabling burgesses to send Mem-
bers to Pariia'nent, re sting entirely with the Crown.—
wish, Sir, to argue tnis question on the principle that
the Constitution of this Ileuse, instead of being that settled,
invariable Constitution, which we are told can never be
changed, and that we are n ,w, for the first time in the
course of history, attempting with unhallowed hands to
violate, has never been for any fifty Yea" anything
but subject to the changes required, or which the power
of these heLes in the State which at tie time had most
;duet-we were able to alter or vary according as circum-
stances arose. Well, Sir, if the representation of this Hous.'
was not settled during this period, it will hardly be main-
tained that during those long civil %%errs which occurred
during the reigns of the Stuart., comptising a period, to
use an expression of an eloquent writer—" the revolution
of a century," that the representation of this nurse was its
any means enchanged. Dming these times, those prece-
dents occurred which are mentioned with such abhorrence
—changes effected by Cromwell,—changes which, though
mentioned with horror by the Anti-Reformers of this day,
did not so affect the mind of Lord Clarendon, who, al-
though a man not fond of Revolutions, but rather an ad-
mirer of Monarchied power and hereditary Government,
did yet think fit to say that these alterations were fit to
he made " with more warrantable authority, and in better
times," If we were to propose changes lame, they would
not be altogether liable to the blame thrown upon Crom-
well ler making them, but toe might take Clarendon for
our bride, and say that these changes are made " with
inore warrant of authority and in better times." We ate
authorised by his tioctrine and opinion in making the at•
tempt to eff!ct these changes in the representa-
tion, change., which will mike it Imre consonant
with the state and condition of the reoplc.
Sir, dating the rtign of Charles the &cowl, whatever may
have been the state of our represeatetion, I think we are
justified in saying it was not what it now is.
For, on a memorable occasion, namely, the Exclusion
Bill, there was a difference between the Lords and the
Commons. The Commons were generally in favour of
that measure, but it was rejected by a majority of
two to one in the Lords. Tee King, in consequence,
had recourse to his Royal Prerogative of sending bur-
gesses to serve in Parlinnent, and 150 or 200 Members
would have found their way into the House against the
people, had such an event occurred at a period like time
present. But did it so happen in the time of
Chides 11. ? No such thing. A Secretary of State
proposed an amendment to the Exclusion Bill, and be
could net find a Member to second him. What
happened in those days, shows the disadvantage of con-
tests between the two branches of the Legislature, but
it is a fact that the Commons in that day were nut
constituted exactly as the Commons of this day are.
For although we have the same name, we hive
net the same influence, or even the same popular
character which evidently existed during that r eign.
( (fear.) But now, Sir, we come to the glorious period of
the Revolution. That memorable period from which
many gentlemen date our Constitution, denying that the time
of political memory ought to be extended beyond it. What
took place at the Revolution? Tae first declaration of Podia-
tnent at that time was that elections should be free.—
(Loud cheers.) One of the first ac's in the second
Session in which the first Parliament of Wil-
liam sat, was a law that the Lords of the Cinque Ports
had no right to nominate memaers, as they bad unlawfully
assumed to themselves. In the period after the Revolution,
there never was at arty time any long period of years in
which this House did not, by some Act of Parliament,
declare and enact that the elections to this House
trueht to he by the people, and that they' ought to he free.
I will now read the preamtle of the Act of the S;11 Geo.
11., which is framed in the same spirit :—" Whereas by
the ancient Common Law of this land, all elections ought
to he free; and whereas by an At't passed in the third year
of the reign of King Edward the First, of fatuous memory"
—on a former oe 'anion it was thought pedantry in me to
quote a Statute of Edward I. ; but I see that the Legisla-
ture of George 11. did not disdain that pedantry—" it is
commanded, upon great forfeiture, that no man, by force of
arms, nor by ma:ice or menacing, shall distu,b any to
make free elections—(Cheers from both sides of the
House)—forasmuch as the freedom of elections of Members
to serve in Pediment is of the utmost consequ-nee to the
preservation of the rights and liberties of the kingdom."—
(Loud cheering.) I have no hesitation in saying that I
think the elections ought to be free from force ; and that
! when Parliament spoke of free elections, they dil not
mean elections by a gentleman's gardener, who followed
the will and pleatore of his master, whether one man or
another should be elected into this House.—(Hear, hear.)
That was not their meaning; and it never can have been
the meaning of those who passed this Act : but we are
now told by a great authority, that such was the meauing,
and a petition was presented to this House during the last
Parliament which went upon this ground, that a certain
number of Members of this House ought to be nominated
by individuals, and a certain number of others ought to sit
here by virtue of 1,0001. or 1,200/. a year paid by them
to a person on whose authority they are returned as Mem-
bers —(Hear, hear, hear.) A Right Hon. Friend of
mine, the Judge Advocate, argued with great force and
ability on this circumstance, that be the Constitution
of this House as excellent as it might, it would be im-
possible to pet suede the people of this country to think it
right, so long- as they soy it existing in such a manner
in defiance of all the laws and :statutes now existing upon
the subject. That argument, Sir, I think it utterly im-
possible to controvert. If you mean to say it is right
that a certain number of Members should sit by
no:nination, and certain other Members by means of money.
—I say then fur what purpose have your laws been
passed since the Revolution to the present eime, and
for what purpose is it that you declare you will pur-
sue to the utmost and punish bribery and corruption?
Either one way or other you must, be wrong. Is it to be
said that the acople are not enlightened, and that they must
be taught to do this ? How are you, under such in-
congruous circumstances, to teach people to maintain the
dans ? To do that you must set one part of the Constitu-
tion which you admire in direct contradiction to the other
—you umet say that you will never alter the practice
or the laws, and that the more violence that is done to the
understanding, the more dark the mystery—the more
worthy is it for admiration.—(lmmense cheering.)
The Hon. Member for Oxford may think this enlightened
doctrine, but as long, Sir, as his Majesty's Ministers have
any influence in Parliament they will never be led away
by such feelings; but their endeavours will he to make
the law anti the practice harmonise together.— (Hear.)
Sir, during this period, however, when the I rws were
made for the freedom of election, there took place that
which will always take place in every Constitution, the
introduction of abuse to that free election which the laws
and statutes of Parliament aim at. Sir, If I understand
anything of the history of the Restoration, I should say,
that a little more than a century ago, although there
were elections by a small number of individuals, yet
genetally speaking, that small number really represented
the feelings and opinions of the towns from which the
burgesses were to be sent. But as it was discovered
in the course of time that it was a very valuable
property to have influence in the election of Members,
men who wished to establish au influence of this kind by
means of their great property, contrived so to pervert and
alter the spirit of our institutions, that the election by few
persons, corporations, and freeholders, became in effect an
election solely by individuals.—(Hear, hear.) Now, Sir,
I have been looking at a very excellent work, written by
Mr. Brown Willis on this subject, and on the point I am
now upnil, I will take one of his instances, and to do this
it will not be unfair to take the borough of Tavistock. In
1'716 there were 110 voters for this borough. At some pe-
riod, I cannot tell when, the Duke of Bedford having
great property in the neighbourhood, bought up the
freeholders, and in the course of time the voters became
diminished, and are at the present time, I believe, from
27 to 35. So small a number of voters, it must be
evident, Sir, are mere under the power of a great proprietor,
than the number of 110 would be, and thus Parliamentary
influence bad been obtained.—(Loud cheers.) The next
instance I shall refer to is the borough of Cam-
bridge. In 1716 there were about 200 voters,
and these seem to have been persons entirely belonging to
the town ; and the Members they sent to Parliament were
persons, it' we may judge from their names. (Cotton and
Bacon) country gentlemen of the coueni‘tylemotbrs of tbe
of Cambridge.
Sir, I do not know whether t h
en
_University of Cambridge have
at
what has taken all attended in
placeth
.
speculations on Refortutobelieve the fact to
in: that! borough ; but
considerable influence with his fellow
ands of the
tit tt
townsmen,totvn gahvaevitthig
be this :—That a banker ofe
whole power of the Corporation into the
h
he received a
Duke of Rutland,
reward quite satisfactory to him
--namely the
for which