The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-16 00:00:00

Xy

LONDON, SATURDAY E

press' their approbatiiin of the Bill now rending in Parliament
which had for its object the restoring the representation of the
Commons' House to its proper state. Had he power to argue
and explain the great benefits the Bill would confer as they de-
served, he considered it would not be necessary he should do so,
for it had already been so fully canvassed, and its character was
so fully understood, that any thing he could say in praise of it
would be quite superfluous. He should content himself, there-
Fore, with saying it had his unqualified approbation ; and he
trusted it would pass into a law without a single iotaof alteration.
He congratulated them on tieing for the present Ministers a set
if men who had the judgment to frame, and the firmness to
wing forward, such a Bill ; and it was impossible they could do
dherwise than express their deep gratitude to their Sovereign for
riving his approbation to a measure which would confer so
valuable a boon on the country. He would not detain them any
longer, but would conclude by moving an address of thanks to
his Majesty.
Mr. BOUVERIE said, it was with the greatest pleasure he
had the honour of seconding the motion. He had, been a re-
former all his life, and he was happy to see the cause had made
such progress. He remembered the time when men scarcely
dared call themselves reformers, but now he was happy to find
all were reformers.—(Cheers.) They had a Ministry composed
of honest men, all pledged to Reform and economy, and he felt
indebted to them for what they had already done.—(Cheers.)
Lord MILTON then presented himself, amid great cheering.
The commencing observations of his Lordship were, however,
but imperfectly heard by our reporter, owing to a noisy quarrel
between two persons who endeavoured to force themselves into
the waggon where he was taking notes. We understood his
Lordship to say that if he had studied his inclination he should
have preferred the seclusion of private life rather than appear
before them that day ; but he felt himself compelled by duty to
come forward and express his strong approbation-d 'theineasures
introduced by the Ministry for reforming the representation.—
(Applause.)—He trusted he heard in the loud wind of their
voices their approbation of that measure. They were assembled
there under peculiar circumstances. The impossibility of their
county hall containing the great multitude who were desirous
of rendering their assistance towards the carrying of the question
of Reform had made the adjournment necessary. He rejoiced
in it on one account, because it would give to all parties an op.
portunity of coming forward, and expressing, if they pleased,
their opposition to the measure, and the grounds and reasons of
the same; but he regretted it on another account, because it had
been the means of depriving them of the presence of one of the
most prominent opponents of the measure. He was not speaking
of Sir R. H. Gunning, for he knew nothing of that gentleman—
but it was with Mr. Cartwright, one of their county members,
that his remark had to do. He confessed he should much have'
liked to hear that Honourable Member explain the reason, upon
which he founded his opposition to the Bill. His Honourable
Friend had, however, abstained from coming among them, under
the pretence, or it might be for the reason, that he did not con-
sider the Market-place a fit one for discussing the merits of
this great question. He had been desirous that they should
have had the Hon. Member's presence there, and he deeply re-
gretted that he had not seen fit to come among them. He trusted
however that after seeing that day how strong and decided the
opinions of h!s constituents were on the )subject, he would even
yet reconsider the question, and not again enlist himself in the
ranks of those who, if they should unfortunately succeed in de-
feating the measure, would force on the Crown and its Minis-
ters the necessity of appealing to the people. There was one
point connected with the Bill, and one point only, on which he
wished to say a few words. He understood there were some who
thought that there was a degree of injustice in disfranchising so
many small boroughs, without any malversation being proved
against the parties who at present held the franchise. This opi-
nion arose from a good feeling—for there could be no betterffeel-
ing than It sense of justice—and if he thought there was the
least injustice in any part of the Bill he should be the very last
to support it. If the disfranchisement of any one of these bo-
roughs had been proposed capriciously, and without being
subject to some rule applying in common to all the others
intended to be disfranchised, the Bill would certainly be un-
just; but When he found that the operation or the Bill pro-
ceeded on one general rule, it was impossible for him to find
any injustice in it. It certainly did not appear right to him
that small boroughs should possess the privilege of sending
members to the extent they had hitherto done; while he felt
it difficult, he might say impossible, to prove any injustice in
trusting to large and important bodies the right of sending to
Parliament those Members by whom their interests were to be
protected. It had been said that these bodies contrived to get
their interests represented and supported through the small
boroughs; but, he could sec no reason why they should not rather
be, represented in a more direct way and, in one more in con-
sonance with the general principles of the Constitution. Their
Hon. Member for the county thought differently; but he
hoped he would. on reconsideration, see reason for changing his
opinion. An Honourable Friend of his who had addressed them
had told them that he had always been a Reformer. Now that
was not his (Lord Milton's) case; for he was by education,
by habits of association, and by prejudice, in early life, an oppo-
nent to all Reform. He had been taught to look with such
veneration on the Constitution, as to consider it a thing that
ought not in the slightest manner to be touched. He had since
seen fit to change his opinions, and to become a Reformer,
and that from reason. He was now, as they were well aware; no
longer a Member of Parliament; but he had in early life, when
holding a seat in that House, certainly given one, if not two,
votes in opposition to the principle of Reform ; but since then,
from a patient and calm investigation of facts—from an exami.
nation of the actual state of Parliament, and comparing it with
what the Constitution intended it should be—from an analysis
and classification of the votes of its Members during a series of
years, he had proved to himself, to demonstration, that the de-
fectivepart of the House of Commonslay in the returns for the
smaller boroughs, and in the condition of the whole of the
Scotch representation. They were aware that in this county
there was a little borough called Higham Ferrero, in which his
family had considerable influence. Now, his famdydid not look
on that influence as a property, nor did they regard its depriva-
tion as inflicting a penalty.—(Cheers.) There was his Noble
Friend, Earl Pomfret, he had no borough. What the proposed
Bill would effhct would be to give every man a due and equal in-
fluence, according to his station.—(Cheers.) He should like to
have asked Mr. Cartwright, if he had been there, what he knew
of a certain place named Brackley, which was called upon to pro-
tect the property of the Bridgwater canaL Now it was certainly
proper that the Bridgwater canal property should be duly pro-
tected, but then this ought to be done by the counties of Chester
and Lancaster, and not by the county of Northampton. He
had therefore fbr years held the opinion that there ought to be a
change ; and he trusted that the meeting, by the resolutions
they that day passed, would impress on both their county Men,
bets, the necessity of enforcing that measure which had been in-
troduced by his Majesty's Government.—(The Noble Lord was
warmly cheered in the course of his speech.)
The resolution for addressing his Majesty was then submitted,
and carried by a large majority ; not more than a dozen hands
being held up against it.
Mr. VERNON SMITH observed, that as their opponents had
not thought fit to present themselves, and explain the grounds
on which they opposed the measure, it was not necessary he
should oppose them at any great length. Their county Member
had, when he rose to second the opposition to the Bill in the
House of Commons, assigned as a reason for so doing that he had
a measure of Reform of his own in his pocket ; and he certainly
thought, after such a declaration, that the Hon. Member ought
to have come among them that day and explained what the na-
ture of the measure was he had in his pocket. The declaration
of the Hon. Member put him in mind of a passage in an old play,
where a man on getting up after falling down is made to say,
Pray, have any of you brought paper wetted with vinegar in
your pockets ?"—(Loud laughter.) The Constitution, they were
to be told, was in the state of this poor man, and was to wait to
be cured till Mr. Cartwright had time to produce his paper wetted
with vinegar from his pocket. It seemed that they were to have
all their own way, and he hoped when the next resolution was
submitted for their approbation, they would give Mr. Under.
Sheriff a better opinion of their unanimity. The Bill had made
all men reformers, for they never now heard of antl-reformers,
and those who used to call themielves so now said they were for
a moderate Reform. He did not know what moderate Reform.
meant. Perhaps they meant such a Reform as took place when
East Retford was disfranchised—a measure which took five years
in accomplishing, and cost the country ten thousand pounds. He
approved of the plan,because it cut away all the rotten boroughs,
and he felt convinced it must be carried ; for the nation had em-
braced it as its adopted child, and would continue to nurture and
to educate it till they saw it grow up to manhood. The speaker
concluded an able address by moving the petition to the House of
Lords in favour of the Bill. . .

Earl POMFRET said he seconded the motion with great plea-
sure. _ -

OTWAY CAVE congratulated the meeting on having
defeated the most paltry, foul, and contemptible conspiracy
which had ever been attempted to be inflicted on a county meet-
ing. He had been amongst the crowd in the Hall—had wit-
nessed what was transacted behind the scenes, and had also seen
how the men had been placed that day to defeat the object of the
meeting, and he congratulated them on the triumph they had
gained.—(Cheers)---If they had submitted to the domination
of such a filthy set, they would have been worse than dogs.
They now know their strength, and if, on other occasions, they
would but act with unanimity, they would never again be in-
sulted by the barking and yelping of these curs.---(Cheers.)—
He was glad the High Sheriff' had the good sense and proper
feeling to yield to the wish of the meeting by adjourning the
meeting; but if he had not done so, he (Mr. 0. C.) could tell
him that measures certainly would have been taken to bring his
conduct before a proper and a high tribunal.---(Great applause.)
--They would not sutlr themselves to be defeated by a brutal,
stupid, and hot headed opposition.---(Loud cheers.) The days
had passed by when petty tyranny could pass with impunity.
No filthy organ of the base boroughmongers could now go and
say, " We are so many votes, and therefore what we ask must
be granted ; our vested rights must be protected." Their vested
rights indeed—the rights of a highwayman to rob upon Finch-
ley Common might as well be talked of.---(Loud cheers.)--
He professed undeviating, unalterable attachment to the
cause of Reform, and was prepared any day to swear at the
altar eternal hatred to that faction which treads on both
the King and the people--(Cheers)---a faction composed
of men who, by their conduct to their Monarch, said; We are content you should exist, but then we will be viceroys
over you ; we will support you only on condition that you suffer
us to form a power behind the throne greater than the throne it-
self." He called on them to rally round their Monarch, and
protect him from defeat by using a constitutional and legal way
of opposing and crushing this faction. Let them return no Mem-
ber who would shuffle ; none but men who would support the
Bill—the whole Bill—and nothing but the Bill. Their cause was
that of justice, truth, and liberty, and these were now every
where gloriously triumphant. What was going on in this
country was but a small under-plot in the great drama of liberty
now performing on the continent. What right had the borough-
mongers to call for passive obedience from the people in this
country now, when they knew that the cause of the people was
everywhere triumphant, and that their (the boroughmongers')
allies had been beaten in France—held at bay in Italy, and con-
quered in Poland. It was the cause of Reform that was triumph-
ing in these countries, and that cause must prevail here also.—
Who would now be such a recreant as not to be the first to rush to
the foremost ranks, when they saw that the enemy was in flight
and the battle all but won ?
The question as to the petition to the House of Lords was
then put, and declared by the Under-Sheriff to be carried by a
vast majority.
Lord SONDES said he would not detain them long, but he
could not abstain from expressing his feelings. He had always
thought it an anomaly that the small boroughs should have the
returning so many Members, while such places as Manchester
and Birmingham remained wholly unre.wesented. They were
now living in critical awkward times, but they had a skilful Ad-
miral, and able officers under him, and he was confident the Bill
must pass and he should hail with joy the day on which it did.
Mr. HILL, in an able and eloquent address, urged the neces
sity and perfectness of the measure of Refocus now vroposed.
Several other gentlemen followed ; and it was agreed that they
should also petition the House of Commons and that the same
a!'9uld be presented by the County Members; and that the pe-
tition to the Lords be presented by Earl Spencer. It was al'
agreed that the resolutions should be advertised in the " North-
atplimr ja.P:ttoi
pstsaelFi
either
London newspapers.
pae
itghtipees.jt Northamptono:
his
Deputy. Mercury," and the
The meeting then separated, without passing any vote ul

ENING, APRIL le, 1831.

- _
IMistRIAL PARLLIMENT.

ROUSE OF LORDAI, .Atialt lb.
CALCRAFT'S DIVORCE BILL.
Counsel were heaid and witnesses examined on this
Bill, the further consideration Of Whieli svds adjourned
till Tuesday next.
The Earl of DERBY presented petitions ftor:N Car-
rington and several other places against slavery ; also
one from Preston in f,wour of Reform.
The Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND presented a
Petition from St. Maitin'c-in-the-Fields in favour of
Reform.

Lord CLIFDEN presented a petition frcirn Clzre and
other places, for the equal distribution of the grants for
the purpose of education in Ireland ; alio from Carlow
in favour of Reform.

Lord SUFFIELD presented petitions from different
parts of Norfolk and Ireland against slavery.
The Earl of ROSEBERRY presented a petition
from the Society for the Encouragement of Industry,
praying that Parliament would substitute some compulsory
measure for the relief of the poor in Ireland. The
Noble Earl thought it singular, that while there were
laws en this subject which had been in operation
in England for five centuries and a half, that that principle
should not be extended to Ireland, where the number of
poor bore a greater proportion to the population than in
either England or Scotland. Such a state of things
ought not to continue, and he trusted the attention of his
Majesty's Ministers would be unceasingly directed to
devise some plan to removing the evil.

The Earl of LIMERICK would not have troubled
their Lordships with any observations on this subject, but
for the extraordinary nature of the petition. This peti-
tion, it should be observed, did not come from Ireland, or
any parties locally interested, but from a set of persons
who met in the Poultry. His Noble Friend had with no
gravity presented this most ludicrous of petitions from
the most ludicrous set of persons. These, however, were
times when every thing was to be accomplished by means
of Societies, and he dared to say that some of these very
gentlemen formed part of that inimitable Committee that
undertook to suit all England, Scotland, and Ireland, with
proper representatives in Parliament.—(Laughter.)--For
his own part, he must confess that he could not see the
entire benefit that it was pretended arose from the Poor
Laws in this country; one of its most evident conse..
quences was, that the poor man, whenever he felt in-
clined, 'partied at all hazards, because, when he got a
family of children, he knew that the parish would sup-
port them : if such an inducement was once to be held
out in Ireland, they would soon see to what a wonderful
extent the population would swarm.—(A laugh. )—He
thought therefore that it could be shown from evidence
that the Poor Laws were open to very great abuses; and
there was also testimony to show that the supposed evils
arising from their absence in Ireland did not reach such a
height as the advocates of the measure endeavoured to
make nut. In particular, he might mention that a Ro-
man Catholic clergyman, on being asked if he had ever
known, in all his experience, any one die of starvation,
had stated that he knew but of one case, and that to that
one there were peculiar circumstances belonging.
. .

Lord TEYNHAM considered that the introduction of
a system of poor laws, carefully avoiding the evils which
had resulted in England, would do great good for Ireland.
On the motion of Earl GREY, the Civil List Bill was
read a first time, awl ordered to be read a second time on
Monday next.

The committal of the Bankruptcy Bill was postponed,
on the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, to Friday next.
Lord BATHURST wished to know whether the Noble
Lord at the head of the Colonial Department had any ob-
jection to furni'h him with a copy of the message of the
Governor of Lower Canada to the House of Assembly,
and the instructions upon which it was founded.
Lord GODERICH had no objection to gire a copy of
the_wage, but felt compelled to refuse furnishing the
instructi(Nis.

Lord ALTHORP, Sir ALEXANDER GRANT, and others,
brought up the Civil List Bill, the Tobacco (Ireland) Bill,
and several private Bills.
BEER.

Lord FOLEY presented a petition from Worcester
against the Beer Act.
The Earl of CAERNARVON presented a petition from
the Justices of a district of Somersetshire, and from the
Taunton Grand Jury, to the same effect.

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