The Sun.
London, England, 1835-03-27 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

The SPEAKER took the chair at half-past three o'clock.
Mr. HODGES presented a petition from Birmingham re-
lative to the London and Birmingham Railway.

Laid on the table.

The Carmarthen Roads Bill was read a third time.
Colonel LEITH HAY presented a petition from the mer-
chants, traders, and other inhabitants of Edinburgh in favour
of Trinity Harbour. He considered the subject as one of
great importance to the public, and therefore moved that the
petition be printed for the use of Members.
Motion agreed to.
Mr. PALMER presented petitions from the towns of Trow-
bridge and Newberry, against the Great Western Railway,
Bill.
Major BE A UCLERK presented a petition from the Grand
Junction Water Works Company, praying to be heard by
Counsel against the Chelsea Works Bill.
Mr. W. PATTEN. brought up the report of the Bolton
and Bury Canal Bill.
CANTERBURY ELECTION.
The Clerk of the Crown having amended the return, Ste-
phen Rumbold Lushington, Esq., took the oaths and his seat
as Member for Canterbury.
ELECTION PETITIONS. _

The petitions presented against the returns from the follow-
ing places—namely, the town of Newry, the county of Mo-
naghan, Belfast, Bandonbridge, county of Cork, and county
of Wexford, were discharged.
Sir W. TREL A WNE Y presented a petition from a parish
in Cornwall, praying. for an alteration in the law of last Session
increasing the duty upon Spirit licenses.
CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

Mr. C. BRUCE said he had a petition to present from the
Magistrate s, Town Council, and Burgesses of Inverness, to
which he mis desirous of calling the particular attention of the
House—not only 0 the body from which the petition pro-
ceeded, but to the -soiaall I•4.eyig, political and social, which it
contained. L contained
_strong expressio4 of gratitude for the

notice in his Majesty's most gracious Speech, calling the atten-
tion of the House to the wants of the people of Scotland, as
regarded religious instruction. These magistrates were the
first:born offspring of the Borough-Reform B:11, and might
be supposed to entertain the prevailing opinion of the people
of Scotland. The Hon. Member expressed a hope that the
House would act upon the suggestion contained in his Ma-
jesty's Speech.
The Hox. MEMBER also presented similar petitions from
South Waste and Inverarity in the county of Forfar.
The Hon. FOX MAULE did not consider it either right,
just, or proper, to call upon the public to pay for large:grants
for such a purpose.
Mr. GIL LON protested against the House being ;called
upon to vote a large sum of money to propagate one species of
education upon the overthrow of another. All the petitions
presented upon the present subject had been got up at hole
and corner meetings, and hawked about by Elders and others.
After some observations from Mr. PRINGLE and Mr. BAR-
RON, the petitions were ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. R. COLBORNE reported from the Rochester Elec-
tion Committee that Mr. Hodges was duly elected, and that
neither the petition nor the opposition were frivolous or vexa-
tious, and' further, that the Committee had amendedthe roll by
striking off the names of twenty-one persons who had voted
without any qualification.
Lord G. LENNOX presented a petition from the Licensed
Victuallers of Battle, complaining of the high duty imposed
upon Spirit licenses.
Mr. GIL LON presented a petition from the hand-loom
weavers of the county of Forfar, complaining of distress, and
praying for the institution of Boards of Trade. One from
the Provost, magistrates, and other inhabitants of Linlithgow,
stating that the petitioners did not think that the reduction of
the malt tax would do much good for the country, compared
with the reduction of some others, and praying for the repeal
of the window duty. And one from the same place in favour
of the Ballot, and a shortening of the duration of Parliaments.
Dr. BOWRING then rose to present the petition from
Blackburn, of which he had given notice. He said it was
signed by 3,000 inhabitants of that borough ; but before he
opened its contents, he was anxious to state to the House that
he did not address it under any feelings of irritation or wounded
pride, but he felt that he owed much to the inhabitants of that
town, from the noble manner in which they had acted towards
him on two occasions; and he trusted they would consider he
was merely repaying a portion of that debt which he owed them
when he tried to put an end to those abominations which had
been introduced into the last few elections—abominations
which had gone to such a length as to have made the fran-
chise a curse to the town, in place of a boon and a blessing.
—( Cheers.) At the first election, the first step taken by the
Hon. Member for the town was to roll in a number of beer-
barrels.—( Cheers, and cries of " Oh, oh !") The Hon.
Member stated that he had never seen money fail yet, and he
was determined to see how far it would go then—( Cheers).—
and it was over the tombs of their fathers that the beer-barrels
were first broached.—( Cheers and laughter.) A clergyman
of the town waited upon the Hon. Member, and prayed him so
put an end to such scenes as were then going on. The Hon.
Member, with tears in his eyes—(Laughter)—laid he would do
all in his power to do so, but there he contented himself, and did no
more. If he represented the petitioners he would be in a less
proud situation than he was now, having since been returned
by an independent borough in cotland, which was free from
the corruption and vice exhibited in Blackburn. He went
into that borough pure and independent—( Laughter,) and
was freely returned by the electors. But in Blackburn, he
had seen such instances of profligacy and corruption that
if such proceedings were to continue, the elective franchise
would only become a curse to the whole community. The
Hon. Member opposite went far beyond him when he was a
candidate for that borough. He pledged himself to support
every kind of measure in opposition to his former opinions. He
completely turned his coat. That Hon. Member has a tenant
in that borough whose opinions were in accordance with his
( Dr. B.), but the Hon. Member told him that he should vote for
him at his peril, and dared him to vote according to his con-
science and opinion. So great, so atrocious, was the corrup-
tion, and the vice and profligacy at that time in the bo-
rough, that several persons absolutely died of drunkenness,
and coroners' inquests were held on the bodies to inquire
into the subject.—( Laughter.) Honourable Members might
laugh ; but this was, surely, too serious' a subject for
laughter, and one which ought to excite very different feelings.
Another elector wished to vote for him, but feared the resent-
ment of the Hon. Member opposite, and he (Dr. B. )•told that
elector not to expose himself to the effects of the Hon. Mem-
ber's anger. But was it not too bad that a Member sitting in
that House should thus threaten to visit with punishment the
conscientious exercise of the elective franchise by an honest
man ? After the writ reached the town, this gentleman had
opened public houses with most liberal hands. So horrid was
the system pursued that representation was made to
the Hen. Member by religious persons at Manchester, as to
whether he would thus corrupt public morals, and introduce
vice and corruption among the constituency. Even children
of 13 or 14 were to be seen drinking tumblers of brandy
and water.—( Great laughter.) Hon. Members might laugh,
but they should consider whether the exercise of the fran-
chise should be thus connected with drunkenness and profligacy.
The Honourable Gentleman himself,"when there presenta-
tions were made to him, did not deny that he had so
interfered—(hear, hear) ; on the contrary, he considered
it an ordinary case of interference, and a case in
which it was very fit and proper in him to use his opulent purse
in accomplishing the result that took place.—(Laughter.)
He hoped, if the House valued the freedom of election, if it
intended that the Members should come there by honourable,
andnot dishonourable means, if it is intendedthat the intellect of
the country should be represented, and not the profligacy,
that the House would adopt some measure, in order to secure
those constituencies which possessed that great rank upon which
the well-being of the country, and the well-being of mankind
depended ; and in order that the result of elections might be—
a result of honesty and a result of purity. After what he
had stated, it would not be wondered at that the prayer
of the petition was for Vote by Ballot ; because, as the peti-
tioners stated, they were fully convinced by experience, that
under the present system of open voting, the electors of Great
Britain and Ireland were unavoidably exposed to the undue
influence of family connections ; and here he would beg to ex-
press his regret that a near relative of the Honourable
Member opposite should personally have canvassed elec-
tors—( Hear, hear)—that he should have raised the rents
of those tenants who voted for his antagonist, and left the
rents of those who voted for him just where they originally had
been. He hoped the prayer of the petition would be listened
to, and stated that he felt convinced the electors of Great
Britain and Ireland, could never be expected to do their duty,
unless the system of open voting was abolished, and the vote
by ballot substituted in its place, which would at once protect
the virtue and secure the independence of all honest electors.
The Hon. Member concluded by moving that the petition be
refei red to the Intimidation Committee.

The petition was then read by the Clerk.
Mr. TURNER said it did not appear there was any allega-
tion in the petition either against him or his Hon. Colleague,
and all he would say was, that if it had contained any such
charge, and the Hon. Member (Mr. Baring) had thought
proper to have it referred to a proper tribunal of the House,
he should have been prepared to meet it in a most sa-
tisfactory manner.---( Cheers.) He must say that he thought
the Hon. Member and his friends had not come out
quite so immaculate as he himself had professed. He had
never canvassed a vote ; and then what the Hon. Member had
stated about a tenant of his had no foundation ? The tenant
the Hon. Gentleman had alluded to, had written him (Mr.
Turner) a note, stating that he had voted for Dr. Bow_
ring because he was a losing candidate, and that had
he (Mr. Turner) been placed in the same situation,
he would have voted for him.—( Laughter.) That was the
Gentleman that he was reported to have intimidated.—( Hear,
hear, and laughter.) He was sorry he troubled the
House with these few remarks, but he thought he was
quite justified in doing so, after the manner in which the Hon.
Member who had just sat down had thought proper to allude
to him.—( Cheers. )
Mr. FIEL DEN said that he believed the turbulence and
riot that had been created at the late contest for Blackburn
originated entirely with the supporters of the Member who had
presented the petition.--( Hear, hear.) He had never can-
vassed the Borough of Blackburn, and had never asked
for a single vote, with one exception. He himself was obliged
to get away for fear of personal violence.—( Hear, hear.)
Ile denied the charge generally, and was convinced there was
not one particle of that statement correct, which the Hon.
Member had made. He was astonished to hear such an accu-
sation coming from such a quarter, and could not refrain from
exclaiming—
Quis tulerit Gracchos de seditione querentes?
Mr. ABEL SMITH presented a petition from the town of
Hitchin, in Bedfordshire, against the Ecclesiastical Courts Bill.
Sir ANDREW ACNE W presented several petitions from
places, the names of which we could not learn, in favour of the
Bill for the better observance of the Lord's Day.
Mr. LEES LEES presented a petition from Wells, in fa-
vour of the Grand Bristol Railway. Also two petitions from
Wells and Westbury against the Ecclesiastical Courts' Bill.
Mr. D. W. HARVEY moved for returns from the Court
of Equity. Also three other returns, the purport of which
did not reach us.

Mr. OSWALD presented a petition from Aberdeen, in
favour of the Church of Scotland.

POOR LAWS (IRELAND).

Sir RICHARD MUSGRAVE brought in a Bill for es-
tablishing a provision forcthe Poor of Ireland.—Read a first
time.

Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN presented a petition from a town in
the !county of Limerick, in favour of the total abolition of
tithes; also another from the same county, for the removal of
Ministers.

An HoN. MEMBER presented several petitions against the
increased duty of 50 per Cent., which the Act of last session
imposed upon Licensed Victuallers. Laid on the table.
A number of petitions were next presented, but owieg to
the confusion which prevailed in the House, it was implisible
to hear one word of what they related to.
DORCHESTER UNIONISTS.

HON. MEMBER (we believe Colonel Gore Langton)
presented a petition in favour of the Dorchester Unionists.
Major BE A UCLE lt thoimht that those upfprtunate men
had suffered under a law of the existence d which they were
ignorant; and he therefore hoped that his Majestyis Ministers
wpulci pay attention iq the subject, and do what was just,
CUARITY CPMMISSIpNERS,
Mr. WILKS wished to lioow vviiat course the • present
Government intended to adopt respecting the renewal of the
invastigatiOn into publin charities in England and Wales.
Six of the largest counties in Engl4o had bee} iu~e~tigted,
and six of the counties in Wales had been partially investigated.
The Commission had been appointed in the beginning of last

session, and, of course, there was great anxiety to learn what his
Majesty's Ministers meant to do on this subject.
Mr. G 0 ULBURN, at the present moment, could give no
answer, but he hoped-to be able to do so in a day or two.
IRISH CORPORATIONS.

Mr. BARRON wished to know whether his Majesty's
Ministers had received the Report of the Commissioners ap-
pointed to inquire into the state of Corporations in Ireland ?
Mr. GOULBURN—The report was received only yester-
day evening, and it was his intention to lay it on the table as
soon as possible.
Mr. BARRON wished to know whether it was intended to
found any measure of reform upon the report of the Com-
r&ssioners.

Sir R. PEEL had not read the report, and it was therefore
impossible for him to give any answer.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS.

Mr. D. W. HARVEY wished to know when the report of
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners would be laid on the table. He
wished to ask whence it was that while it was not yet circu-
lated amongst the Members of that House, it had for some
days back been in the hands of all the newspapers in London.
He had no objection to the report being put in the posses-
sion of the press, but it ought to be done concurrently
with its being handed to the Members of that House.
Sir R. PEEL could only, say for himself, that he had no
hand in sending the report to the newspapers. He could,
therefore, give the Hon. Member no satisfaction whatever.