The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-21 00:00:00

they tatv the Commons of England assembled on this niol.
mentous question of Reform, having their time nglit after
night wasted with mere quibbles, and learned criticisms
upon terms.—(No, no.) He had really felt it very diffi-
cult to forbear from interference, when he heard the lion.
and Learned Gentleman under bin', night after night, using
..4
terms, he would not call them arguments, of abuse of the
Bill ; and when, after the house had decided on any point,
the Hon. and Learned Gentleman again travelled bad; into
tegaastseest tett?), tt li : mai tt
its discussion, it was impossible to listen to him tv'tO
Englandtalkeri olfabtil,muerei idelusioni.k
House to support the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but
truphenasetdpi eeeprncetcoetpol:
people
whiskl
oTt ef The
measure.ieeEnsnagoi
ldna.nt hdße a :PT: nodhepestl
eel hadnloto fn
the Bill; and then he taunted those delegates. as he called
them, for inconsistency, in supporting the Bill, after the
theirß '.
odneel
alterations which ie had undergone. What the people of
England understood at the last election,—and in the city
which he had the honour to represent lie hail heti a germd
opportunity of knowing Cie sentiments of twelve or four-
teen hundred constitnsrits, many of them in humble life,
but intelligent men, and not, as the Hon. Baronet sup-
posed, easily deluded,—what the people of England unthr-
stood by " the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the
Bill," was, that those whom they sent to Parliament shoal I
support a measure of Reform commeneurate to the Bill
introduced by his Majesty's Ministers ; a measure which
would give the people the same controul over those
whom they elected as that Bill, if cattied would do.
If, however, the measure under consideration was to
be discussed as up to that Period it had been di,-
cussed ; if the time of the House were to be occupied
by learned quibbling with respect to it, he really could
not see the prospect of any speedy termination to the
proceeding. The suggestion of the Honourable ita-
ronet, the Member fur Tasnwarth, that they should de-
termine the principle on which boroughs should be die-
franchised, an I then, having determined that principle,
abstain from its Rather discussion. and only inquire how
that principle, whether of nomination or of population,
W .FI applicable to the particular borough under considera- •
tion, was an excellect one ; and if it were so sett:el, the
respect due to the House would, he hoped, prevent any
lion. Member front violating that understanding. Unless
this wet e done, and unless a general tone of moderation
were adopted in the discussion, the people of Englano
would consider that they were wasting their time io a
disgraceful manner.
Sir C. WETHERELL could not' charge his tremors.
with having re-opened the debate on any principle of the
Bill which had been settled by the decision of the House.
A Noble and Learned Friend of his (for so he would
always consider him, although no men could differ snore
completely on many points), then Mr. Brougham, now
Lord Brougham, had said that " the schoolmaster was
abroad." He (Sir C. Wetherell) did not know where
this schoolmaster wins to be found ; when lo ! forth lie
came that evening, in the person of the Hon. :Mem-
ber for Worcester to have the miserable affecta-
tion of taking upon himself the office of school-
master was an absurdity indeed. Why, even the Reformed
Parliament would not dignify the Hon. Member for 'Wor-
cester with the office of their leader, or clothe him with
the scholastic character.—(Hear, hear.) He must be
permitted to tell the Hon. Member for Worcester, that he
was not the schoolmaster alluded to by his Noble anti
Learned Friend. The Hon. Member for Worcester, in
taking upon himself the office of admonishing the :Members
of that House how to comport themselves, had played the
part of schoolmaster in a very odd manner. For of what
did he complain ? Ile (Sir C. Wetherell) had said that
the expression of " the Bill, the whole 13111, and nothing
but the Bill," was a senseless one; and for' this expression
the Hon. Member for Worcester, in his capacity of school-
master, lectured him, while he admitted that the expres-
sion was senseless. The Hon. Member for Worcester
might depend upon it, therefore, that he was net the school-
master—the Roger Ascham, meant by his Noble and
Learned Friend—(A laugh)—since he censured persons
for doing what he at the same time allowed to be right;
and the Hon. Member for Worcester might also depend.
upon it, that if lie persevered in the assumption of the
character of a schoolmaster, he would find that House a
most refractory, disobedient, and rebellious school.
Sir J, IiIt.YDGES, in explanation, denied that he bad
departed from the question before the Committee.
The question that " Bishop's Castle" stand part of the
clause, was then put and carried.
The next question was, " That the borOugh of Bletch-
ingiey stand part of schedule A i" 'and on this question
being put by the CHAIKMANs
R thoseEL t.
12,
oa
raoi that%ii
boroughs
wal si i
el he:
were h a d t
ch
oe
inb
:no on
?yr
to represent Sir C .
‘‘rEmTm eneEf
known by tho puma tif burgage tenure boroughs, he wished
to say a few %words on this question. The borough of
Bletchirsgley was a pure hurgage tenure borough, and he
had expected that before they came to the annihilation of
boroughs of this description, some person connected with
the Government would have felt it necessary to explain to
the House what was the bearing of their measure upon
such boroughs. He had expecteJ this, because it must be
notorious to all gentlemen who hadpaid the least attention
to the constitution of the House of C 0411110113, that the
sources by which Members were returned to that House
were extremely various. Itlembers were sent from large
cities by the freemen—from boroughs as Mein were close
corporations—from boroughs where the right of voting
was in the freemen at large—and fronts boroughs which
were called scot-and-lot boroughs. They had these, and
they had various other species of the elective franchise ;
but the hurgage tenure franchise was a species by itself,
separate, distinct from, and not allied with any other
species of franchise whatsoever. The phrase, which had
oow (to use an elegant expression of the lion. Member
for Worcester) become a cant pliritsie--he meant the
phrase of " rotten boroughs"—could not be applied to
burgage tenure boroughs. At another more convenient
time ho would go fully into this subject. At present
he was only opening the consideration of it. Now
it might be true that some places which hail formerly
been places of great account had now fallen into
decay; it might be true that in sonie places, where the
population had formerly been large, it hail now become
small; it might be true. that in some places the consti-
tuent body had formerly been independent, whereasit was
now under itaaeace and controul ; it might be true that
in some places the constituent body had, front time to
time, so fallen away, that there was no longer any of it
left. All this might he true; and the principle of this
Bill was, that as many places which now returned :Mem-
bers were formerly large and had now become small, it wee
necessary to enlarge the elective ii.anchise in them. He
did not say that this was a good principle ; hut, such as
the principle was, this was the nature of it. Now he
called the attention of the gentlemen opposite to this
point. He said, this was his positions, that a hurgage te-
nure borough was the aanae now—was the same in 1841
—as it was centui iea ago, when first created ; and, con-
sequently, that tire principle of this Bill had not the
smallest applicettion to burgage tenure boroughs.—(Cheers
from the Opposition.) This was a point which Mr. Can-
nines had urged with his wooted force and ability, its a
speech which he toAde, in that House against Reform ;
and to this polo:, therefore, he thought that he had a good
right to challenge the serious attention of at least the Can-
ning section of the Cabinet.—(Cheers from the Oppo-
sition.) The borough of Bletchingley was, he contended,
now just the same as it had ever been. If gentlemen ad-
mitted this proposition, they most also admit the conse•
queues: c.f it—namely, that the constitution of burgage
tanore boroughs rested neither upon the basis of nunstions
nor upon the balls of representation. In them there had
been no detray—in them there had been no usurpation.
This was the point to which he called the attention of,
and which be wished to be answered by, some
Member of the Cabinet,.-.some Member of the Canning
sectioa of the Cabinet he should like hest. He said some
Member of the Cabinet, because he did not with to force
it upon the Noble Lord who had the conduct of the Bill.
It was too much that that Noble Lord should have been
subjected to the operation, to use an academic phrase, of
being veammed, within a few shoot months, with all the
lentetnino necessary for time disesesaion of all the parts of a
I Bill likeh this. He veisheel time gentlemen opposite to tell
him what was tha sneering of their favourite phrase,
" restoring tloe Constitution," in the case af a burgage
(entity leo:yogis ? And he wished them also to inform
him, upon what principle of Reform it was that they
asked the House to disfranchise such boroughs ?—(Cheers
from the Opposition.) One might be inclined to think,
on hearing, some gentlemen talk of
.decayed boroughs, that
each of such boroughs had formerly been an Athens, it
Tyre, a Thebes, a Risme, or a Carthage—crowded with
thousands of artisans, rieb in manufacturing Dad commer-
cial greatness, and Aourishing as vast emporiums of all
that was valook,le, but which, from various causes which
historieire had forgotten to mention, had twills/ed into
ruins.—(Hear and laughtee• from the Opposition.) Let
all this be true of what were called the decayed boroughs,
but no one word Qf it could be true when spoken of
nomination borosugehee
bhuurrggaaggee tteerinttouree
bboorrooungghimssswerleti)7
figachtt, indeed, be said that
Let gentlemen cheer ; he was not going to d
of
,•,_
lie.t..:.
(Renewed cries I
were nomination boroughs—(Renewed
opposite test
hear")—but he put it
4)
the gentlemen
that the basis.
—( Loud cries of " Hear," from the Ministneriattitatelth;,)r
tell him whether it wee no
wi a .
he —otos were gierre
was not no
of their Cotnosrtiiotoustiontbal4VAßto nominationttd , ,e ~,,. iL