The Sun.
London, England, 1850-03-01 00:00:00

DUTIES ON PAPER.

Colonel THOMPSON presented a petition from Brad-
ford praying for a repeal of the tax on paper and the
advertisement duty.
Mr. M. GIBSON presented a similar petition from
Sunderland.
TIMBER DUTIES.
Lord HARRY VANE presented a petition from
Stockton-un-Tees praying for a repeal of the duties on,
timber.

In answer to a question from Mr. SCROPE,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that on Monday night
he proposed, first to go on with the Nary Estimates,
and afterwards to proceed with the Mercantile Nary
Bill of his Right Hon. Friend.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

In answer to a question from Mr. HUME,
Lord J. RUSSELL said that he proposed to go on
with the Australian Colonies Bill on Friday night.
NAVY ESTIMATES.
In answer to a question from Mr. COBDEN,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that his Right Hon.
Friend the First Lord of the Admiralty was absent
from the House through illness, and he was not able to
state whether he could be present on Monday night.
MERCANTILE NAVY BILL.
Mr.CARD WELL said that as there was an impression
in the country that it was not the Lona fide
intention of the Government to go on with this Bill on
Monday, he wishcd to know from the Right Hon. Gen •
demist' whether it was his intention.
Mr. LABOUCHERE said he could not pledge himself.
PARLIAMENTARY: yOTERSZIRELAND) BILL.

The House then went into Committee on this
On clause I being proposed,
Mr. HAMILTON observed that if it were necessary
to extend the franchise, it ought not, to be done at the
expense of the franchise that existed already. The
franchises that now prevailed in Ireland ought to be
preserved, and he should therefore move that
.after the
word " that " in line 11 the following words be inserted:
"in addition to thoEe qualified by law to register and
vote at any election of a Knight of the Shire in Ireland
d
in virtue of any qualification not requiring occupation. "
On the amendment being put,
Mr. BRIGHT said he should be glad to know what
question they wet e now to decide. Would' the Attorney -
Gr,neral for Ireland be so good as to explain it.
Mr. lIATCHELL said, the Bill in point of fact did
not affect the franchise that existed already, but, in order
that there should be no ambiguity about the matter, Go-
vernment had no objection to insert these additional
words.

After a few observations from Mr. ROEBUCK and Sir
W. SOMERVILLE,
Sir F. THESIGER wished to know from the Go-
vernment whether the Bill did not propose to sweep
away a►l the existing franchises for the purpose of en-
tirely reconstructing the representative system in Ire-

land %because, most unqueetionably that was the way
in which he read the Bill.—(Hear.) Most undoubtedly
some parties already registered would have under some
clauses of the Bill a prima facie right to be registered
again, but not according to the qualification which they
possessed at present, but to a new qualification established
under the Bill. It was important to understand at the
outset that the Committee would have to decide whether
they would adopt the plan put forth by the Government,
viz., that the existing franchise should only remain so far
as it would constitute a prima facie right to register un-
der this Bill ; or whether they would adopt the words
introduced by his Honourable Friend the Mem-
ber for the University of Dublin, by which he con-
tinued all :the existing rights, but preposed
to supply the deficiency which had arisen in the number
of electors, by certain new rights which were established
under the Bill. He was ready to admit that in the pre-
sent decayed state of the representation in Irelandaddi-
tional voters should becreated, but it was for the Committee
to consider in what way this purpose could be best effected.
The Reform Act substituted an occupation of a 10/.
franchise, but it left the property qualification, with a
very small alteration, precisely upon the distinction
which had existed from the earliest times. The first
inroad which was made on that distinction arose on the
Cbandos clause of the Reform Act. That clause intro-
duced into the county constituencies persons who merely
occupied, and were liable, to the payment of rates on the
value of 50/. At the time when that clause was pro-
posed to be introduced the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell)
objected to it on the ground of the abuse which
might be expected to arise from it, but by reason of
that alteration of the basis the Reform Act established
a county qualification, viz., property and not
occupation. Now, the Reform Act was one
grand comprehensive scheme, the object of which
was to bring the representative system in the
three parts of the empire to: a perfect similarity;
and if Hon. Members would compare the existing repre-
sentative system as established under the Reform Act
with that which was established in Ireland, they would
find as much uniformity as was possible under the ex-
isting circumstances of each particular case. in 1829
40s. freeholders were annihilalated in Ireland.
The It( form Act for England established a
qualification upon a freehold rate, which it would be
found was carried out in regard to Ireland. The Hon.
Members would find, with regard to freeholders for life
in England, an occupation was required of them if
they occupied only of the value of 101. or under. The
Reform Act in England established a new right
in favour of the assignees and lessees of terms.
Then came the Chandos clause, by which a lease of sixty
years, according to the 20th clause, of only 10/. a year,
gave a right to vote. Then it was determined that those
who paid a rent of 51. a year, in rural districts, should
also have a right to vote, provided they had a certain in-
terest in the property. Last of all came the right to vote
in boroughs, by those who held tenements of only 10/. a
year rent. When the Reform Bill was passed an entirely
new system was adopted, and revising barristers were
appointed to see that the registration of voters was just,
so far as it went, although of course it could not be per-
fect.—(Hear, hear.) When it seemed desirable
to pass another Bill for registering the constitu-
ency in Ireland, the whole of the bar were peni•
cularly anxious that the law of representation should
be assimilated to that of England. If the system were
good, it ought to be universally adopted, and arranged
for the whole of the United Kingdom. The Reform Act
was based upon the Bill of 1725, corrected by
the Act of the 35th chapter of Geo. 111., in which this
principle of representation was distinctly recognised.
In 1835 the Government of the day introduced a Bill
through Sergeant O'Loughlen for the purpose of alter-
ing the franchise, and giving to Ireland a double
appeal. In 1838 Sergeant Wolff introduced a
similar Bill, which was met by a rival Bill,
but neither of them came to anything. In 1840 began
the memorable struggle which was commenced by the
introduction of Lord Stanley's Registration Bill. Of that
Bill the Noble Lord at the head of the Government ex-
pressed an opinion that of all the measures which tended
to unsettle the Reform Bill that Bill did. This showed
the impression which the Noble Lord had on his mind
of the necessity of keeping .the Reform Bill in-
tact. A Bill had also been introduced into the
House by Lord Morpeth, which was a Bill for altering
and amending the representation as well as the regis-
tration of the people of Iseland. The Right Honour-
able Member for Tamworth had said of that Bill, that
it was calculated to revolutionize the franchise.
In order to provide for the deficiency the Government of
the day proposed to create two new classes of electors,
the first class resembling that proposed to be established
by the present Bill. It gave every person who in a county
was rated to the extent of 301. a year a vote, making
the class equivalent to one created in England by what
was called the Chaados clause. The second class that
was proposed to be created was the 5/. freeholders. The
Noble Lord at the head of the present Government did
not object to the 30/. class, but with regard to the
51. freeholder., he suggested that the amount should
be reduced to 40s. The measure, however, was not
persevered in at the time, and he merely mentioned it
now to show what were the views, and what were the
objects of the Government of that day with
which he had tha honour to be connected, sand in order
to preserve his consistence, he proposed to
support the amendment of His Honourable Friend.
The Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) intimated last night
that it was not desirable to introduce any legislative
measure which might operate as a substitute for the
Reform Bill; but that all legislation on the subject
should be supplementary to that Bill. Now, he
must frankly declare that the present measure
proposed to annihilate every existing franchise
and to re-construct an entirely new franchise which, with
regard to counties, would introduce a constituency to
whom it would be dangerous to entrust the election of
representatives.—(Hear, hear.) That, in fact, was the
position of the question, and let them see in what way
they ought to proceed. Were they to act upon the caution
of the Noble Lord in his sp( ech of yesterday, and take the
institutions as they existed under the Reform Act,
and add such classes of electors as the existing
state of society rendered imperatively necessary, or
to sweep everything away in order to re-
construct our representative system entirely anew.
It appeared to be of vital importance that they should
understand what tho question was ; and he trusted the
history he had given of the attempts at legislation would
not be considered unnessary.—(Cheers.) Now, if the
Government conceded the insertion of the words pro•
posed by his Honourable Friend, th© very first question
which would arise was, whether the House would create
a new class of county voters. The Government pro-
posed a constituency for Ireland, consisting of persons
rated on the annual vale of 8/. What was the sew
county constituency which they would raise under the
present Bill ? They were, he believed, all agreed that it
was absolutely necessary that there should be some re-
vision of the county constituency in Ireland, with a view
to supply its acknowledged deficiency—(Hear, hear)
—and their next endeavour would be to ascer-
tain what would be the best mode of creating a class
to supply the deficiency in the constituency. He
would therefore support the amendment of his Hon.
Friend the Member for the University of Dublin, his
(Sir F. Thesiger's) anxious desire only teing to give
such a consituency to Ireland as was best adapted to the
wants and wishes of the people of Ireland.—(Cheers.)
Sir G. GREY said that there was no desire on the
part of the Government to oppose the amendment. The
proposition was extended over a very long historical
period.—(Hear, hear.) The speech of the ion. and
Learned Gentleman had not touched the question in the
slightest degree.—(Hear, hear.) The amendment pro-
posed to make no alteration whatever in the principle
of the Bill, but simply to make it more perspicuous.—
(Hear, hear.) The Government, therefore, had no de-
sire to oppose it, and they might, therefore, proceed at
once to the consideration of the several clauses of the
Bill.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.)
On the first clause being read,

Air. HENLEY moved an alteration, the effect of
which would be to throw the consideration for the
qualification not upon the rates due, but upon
the average of those which before a certain
late period had been assessed and paid. He
thought that the House were well agreed as to the
necessity of seutting the door upon all corrupt practices,
and he thought that some parts of this Bill were well
calculated to do so. He thought that all par-
ties would agree that so far the boards
of guardians bad been free from all political
bias, but he wished the House to consider how
easy it wds by this Bill for guardians to strike on
and off the register. He would therefore suggest
that they should adopt the provision of the English Re-
form Act, that the party had been rated to all the rates,
and that would get rid of this facility for creating fag-
gOt votes. He had no objection to that point of the
Bill which related to the period of rating, but with re-
gard to the other point he did feel strongly upon, be-
cause if the Bill were agreed to as it now stood, it must
inevitably lead to great confusion, if not litigation and
and fraud.—(Hear, hear.)
The ATTORNEY GENERAL thought the proposal
would limit the Constituency greatly, and he should
therefore oppose it.
Sir F. THESSIGER considered that the proposition
was a most excellent one, and ought to be adopted.
(LEFT SITTING.)

MARKET INTELLIGENCE.
(From the London New Price Current, March I.)

SUGAR.—To-day holders of West India Sugar dis-
placed firmness, and insisted upon fully former rates for
both grocery and refining sorts, still there was only a
small business concluded. The purchases amounted to
290, making for the week 1,672 With and tree, and prices
close the same as on Friday last, but with firmness.
REFINED.—To-day Refined goods were in excellent
demand for home-trade purposes, and prices ruled firm;
good brown Lumps at 4Ss 6d, and fair to fine grocery
495 to 52s per cwt. Only limited sales are made in
British Crushed Sugar at 29s to 30s 6d per cwt.
MAURITHTS.-This
afternoon Mauritius Sugar met
firm
mth
raattteeziwohni,halntdhethwehpoulbelifeousand lesboufye9r6Bo; fiobnae yellow at
bags went at
395 to 40i, low to good 355 6d to 385, brown 325 to 355,
very low 28s 6d to 295, and mid to good grainy yellow
att.is afternoon Bengal Sugar was in
E3BAisTtol3N9Dse._r clswh
excellent demand, and the public sales went off at full
rates. The quantity offered amounted to 5685 bags, and
the prices paid were: white Benares 385 to 39s 6d, good
and fine 40s to 415, low to good yellow, like Mauritius,
345 to 371 6d, strong white 45s to 47s 6d. Ot Penang
5,926 bags, 81 bskts, sold at full rates, low to fine soft
white 37s to 405, yellow 330 6d to 365 6d, brown 30s to
335, and very low 27s to 2is per cwt.
FOREIGN.—There was no public sale to-day of
Foreign Sugar, but by private treaty a fair business
was concluded, and at fully former rates.
MOLASSEB.—For West India the rates asked are from
15s to 17s for low to fine quality, still little .business has
been concluded by private treaty, whilst none has been

submitted to public competition. The market for East
India is quiet, and 13s 6l to 14s 6d is the ♦alue.
COFFEE. —This afternoon the private operrtions in
Coffee were trifling for all purposes, and bOs is the
nominal value of good ord native Ceylon. At auction the
chief part of 59 casks and 226 bags plantation was taken
in at about the former value, from 683 6d to 70s; the small
part sold realized 65s to 68s for low mid and mid, and
63a to 64s for fine ord. The 17,000 bags La Guayra
offered yesterday at Liverpool, were taken in at 60s for
fine old grey of old importation. At a late hour this
afternoon 3000 bags good ord Native Ceylon sold
at 59s

COCOA.—With foreign the market has been well sup-
plied this week, and there are sellers at a reduction,
still few buyers are to be met with. At public sale 266
bags of fine red Bahia were taken in at 325, and 970
bags Guayaquil at 30a to 32s per cwt for grey. For
West India the market is quiet, and last week's terms
are not to be obtained. At public sale 118 bags of good
grey Trinidad were taken in at 42s per cwt.
TEAS.—In common Congou operations have been
upon a small scale this week, still on the part of holders
firmness is apparent, and there are nut sellers under 9}
per lb. For medium sorts the market has been in a
quiet position, but prices remain at lid to is 2d.
In other kinds sales have be, n small at from
Is 3d to is 9d, but fine continues- least in demand
A fair business 'has been conctuded in ordinary and
middling sorts of Souchong at 101 to is 4d, still few
buyers are to be met with for other kinds, and
sellers are willing to accept Is 6d to 2s 6d.
Preuious terms are asked for Scented Caper,
the market, however, has a dull aspect and is 2d to is ed
is the value. Pekoe Tea met with little attention, and
difficulty is experienced in getting late rates. Fine Green
is held with firmness at fully last week's terms, and a
good demand exists.
SPICES.—To-day at public sale 222 chests of Cassia
Lignea were sold, good middling and good at 107 s to
109 s, middling 106 s, mouldy 102 s to 103 s, broken 87s 6d
to 90s. Of Bengal Ginger 520 bags and 892 brls were
disposed of, middling and good mid export sort at 20s
to 20s 6d, ord 19s; a small parcel of 30 bags white
Pepper went at 61d.
RICE.—To-day at public sal© 356 pkgs Arrowroot
were nearly all taken in; Bermuda at 2s 3d to 28 4d;
St. Vincent's 9d to is Id, and Jamaica is 3d; 123 brls
Tapioca taken in at 3id for low.
Saco.—Price are firm for Sago, but only small
purchases have been made this- week. At public
sale 150 chests were taken in, at 23s 6d to 24s for
good grain. Sago flour is offered at 225,
but few buyers are to be found. Farina is dull
of sale at 16s to 16s 6d, -and the stock is getting
upon a larger. scale. For Tapioca prices have a
downward tendency,' and at :Public sale 75 pkgs were
taken in, good and fine Rio at 6d to gid, and Bahia
ordinary at 4d. Arrowroot is held for full rates, the
stuck being small; still few buyers are to be met with.
At auction 21 pkgs St. Kitts, 'roue le Mois were in part
sold at 4d to 6d for middling and good.
Ores.—This afternoon at public sale 48 tuns Southern
Oil sold at 321 lOs to 331 103; 7 tuna Sperm at 841 lOs
for good; 50 tuns of Seal, fine pale 371 5s to 37110.,
and straw 351 per tun; 424 pkgs Cocoa Nut, a small
part sold at 33s 9d to 355, andlow 29s 6d to 30s 3d.
TALLow.—This artornoon at public sale 1,100 cks of
Sydney were offered, and a part only sold at 32s Gd to
36s 3d; 1,300 pkgs South American 33s to 351 6d; 22
cks fine P. Y. Candle 36s 6d Per cwt.

BANK OF ENGLAND.
(From this night's Gazette.)
An Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth of Victoria, cap. 32, for
the Week ending on Saturday, tha 2id day of February, 1850.
158171 DIPAITILENT.

X.
Notes issuwl.. •• .• .• 30,326,155

X.
Government debt .. 11,015,100
Other securities .... 2,984,900
Gold coin and bullion 16,049,078
Silver bullion ...... 277,077

ness having been opened by the chairman, Mr. C. Wil-
son moved the first resolution, to the effect that the
window tax was an odious, partial, and oppressive im-
post, and that attempts to improve the sanitary condition
of the people which should not include its abolition were
a mockery, which, being seconded by Mr. Hickman, was
carried unanimously. The second resolution, moved by
Mr. Tirns, and seconded by Mr. Grange, was for the
adoption of a petition to Parliament in accordance with
the sentiment of the meeting and for requesting Sir B.
llall, ALP., to present it to the House of Commons, and
the Members of the borough and county to give it their
support. It was carried unanimously. Lord Duncan
then came forward and was received with great applause;
his Lordship, in a speech of some length, exposed the
principle of the tax, and pointed out several ways by
which the national expenditure might be reduced. His
Lordship, who was continually greeted with loud cheers,
proposed a ♦ote of thanks for the chairman, which being
carried the meeting broke up.
The bodies of two infants, evidently murdered, have
been found ; the one on Monday, in Regent's Park ;
the other on Tuesday, in St. George's-road, Pimlico.
No clue to the perpetrators of these crimes has been
discovered.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.
HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 28.
PARTY PROCESSIONS (IRELAND) BILL.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE moved the second
reading of the Party Processions (Ireland) Bill. The
Bill did not differ from former Bille, except in this case,
that there was no period fixed for the expiration of the
Bill. The necessity fur the enactment of such a Bill
was self-evident, and he would not detain their Lordships
by making any reference to recent occurrences.
Lord BROUGHAM considered that it was a great
advantage that the Bill was permanent. He considered the
right of procession to the least valuable of the rights
of the subject, and he should not be sorry to see all pro-
cessions prohibited except funeral processions.

The Earl of ELLEN-BOROUGH said the Bill only
prohibited armed processions, but did not prohibit
processions generally, so that the Orangemen
might assemble unarmed next year and march
in procession through Dolly's Brae. He thought
that the papers which had bees presented to
the House on the subject of Dolly's Brae justified
the introduction of this Bill, although they might not
justify the conduct that had been pursued' by her
Majesty's Government on that occasion, but on that
point he would not now give any opinion.
Lord CAMPBELL said that the Bill was framed al-
most entirely on the principle of the Bill introducel by
the Noble Lord opposite, and which was found to work
so successfully from the year 1813 to the year 1845,
when the unsettled state of society in Ireland required
the temporary- adoption of other measures. It was
founded in its detail upon the earnest desire of the Go-
vernment to act with the most perfect impartiality in
every case that might arise; it applied equally to Rib-
bonmea and Orangemen, and the greatest care had been
taken to apportion the punishment to the enormity of
the offence.

After a few words from the Earl of ELLEN-
BOROUGH,
The Earl of RODEN said that from his experience of
the state of things, which rendered necessary au enact-
ment similar to that which was now proposed to their
Lordships, he should be the last person in that House to
offer the slightest impediment to its progress; but if it
were similar in principle or in operation to the former
measure, he should have felt it his duty to oppose it to
the extent of his ability. He was of opinion that no
measure for this purpose could be too stringent in Ire-
land, and that it oaght to apply indiscriminately to pro-
cessions of every description ; but feeling the importance
and necessity of this measure, he was anxious that it
should be enacted.

The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said the Govern-
ment had always felt a wish to prevent the country from
being excited by occurrences of this kind, and if he were
in a position at that moment to do so, he could show
by returns, the great number of troops, and of stipen-
diary magistrates, that were sent down into the North
of Ireland, in the month of July, 1848. It was impos-
sible for an Act to provide for every case that might
arise in occurrences of this class, and instances must
sometimes happen, in which the law would be evaded,
But the present measure, he had great reason to believe,
would be assisted by the common sense which was gra-
dually gaining ground against these party processions,
and he had little doubt, that in practice, it would be
found sufficiently stringent in all cases.
After a few words from the Earl of GLENG&LL and
the Marquis of LANSDOWNE, the Bill was read a se-
cond time and ordered to be committed.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, Feb.2B.
NATIONAL REPRESENTATION.

Mr. HUME, in rising to move for leave to bring in a
Bill to amend the national representation, by extending
the elective franchise, so that every man of full age, and
not subject to any mental or legal disability, who shall
have been the resident occupier of a house, or part of a
house as a lodger, for twelve months, and shall have
been duly rated to the poor of that parish for that
time, shall be registered as an elector, and be
entitled to vote for a representative in Parliament: also,
by enacting that votes shall be taken by ballot; that the
duration of Parliaments shall not exceed three years;
and that the proportion of representatives be made more
consistent with the amount of population and
property—observed that often as he had had occa-
sion to address the House, he was not aware that
he had ever addressed it upon a subject of
more importance than this. It regarded, in his humble
opinion, the future peace of the country; it was important
as it concerned the justice due to the people of this
country; it was of the utmost importance, in his humble
opinion, as far as it related to the financial state of the
country, and the means by which the expenditure
and the excessive taxation of the country was to be re-
duced. Ile was quite aware that the vast majority of
the House would listen to him with impatience, because
they thought, and conscientiously felt, that the
House was perfect in itself, and required no
amendment. He was quite aware that this motion had
been rejected in three successive years ; but since the
last session of Parliament the public out of doors had so
unequivocally expressed itself in favour of it, that he
was convinced the House would give the motion the
proper consideration that was due to its tendency and
importance. That motion was for leave to bring in
a Bill to amend the representation of the people. It
was admitted on all sides that some amendment was
noeded, but the difficulty was to decide to what length
the reform should extend.—(Hear, hear.) He wanted
to improve the constitution of that House, so as
to bring it back to its original state. He
wished to make no innovation; but his object was simply
to restore the House and the government of the country
to what it originally was, both in principle and operation.
He was one who thought that every man who paid taxes
ought to be represented. Then came the consideration
how to obtain those changes from an unwilling power.
He conceived he was obliged to lay down some rule, and
draw some line of distinction. Our present Acts of
Parliament drew a line of distinction ; they had been
pointed to what should be the qualification to entitle a
man to the franchise. The constitution of Parliament had
been, in his experience, what any and every Mininster had
chosen to call it; but, looking at the principle on which
that House was constituted, he asked the House whether

the present reformed Parliament was not established and
the reform made a principle altogether at variance with
the great principle on which his present motion was
based, viz., that taxation and representation should be
co-existent. He had a letter in his hand addressed by
Lord Melbourne to Mr. Drummond at the begin-
ning of 1831-32, stating the grounds on which
the then Reform Bill was contemplated. His Lordship
said, "In the former Bill boroughs were regarded in
proportion to their population, but in the present case
the elements upon which the boroughs are to be esti-
mated are by the number of the houses and the amount
of the assessed taxes." Now, there was the principle
on which the reform of 1832 was effected. lie agreed to
that Reform Bill, but at the same time he stated that he
accepted it only with hopes that it would effect that
degree of control on the`part of the people over their re-
presentatives which would insure cheap and good govern-
ment. lie had attempted this with the hope that the ques-
tion would have been fully and fairly discussed. In the
results of his proceedings he was bound to state to the
'House, that ho had been completely, at least he might
say that he had been greatly disappointed. They had
all heard of the mode adopted for legislating in
that House. He must confess that he had been
an advocate for universal suffrage—a word,
he believed, which was often repeated but
seldom understood, but which he had explained by
stating he had always desired that every man who was a
householder should have a voice in the legislation of the
country. lie had always desired that taxation should
go with representation in this country.—(Hear, hear.)
Such, in his opinion, was the original intention of those
who founded our Constitution, and it was only their
opinion which he was desirous of carrying out.—(Hear,
hear.) If he were to be called to task he would only
say that this and this only was his object; and
if they would allow him, he would effectually
make his case out. Ile was glad to see that the
members of her Majesty's Government had not thought
the sabject unworthy of their regard and consideration.
He thought that no measure which was sought to be
introduced into that House should be introduced with-
out being duly considered and weighed. He bad
lived long enough to see that many alterations
bad not been amendments, and many reforms bad
not been improvements. The measure which he
was about to introduce was ono which would give
contentment and peace to a groat number of men,
which would give the franchise to a large number of men
who well deserved it. To meet the feelings of many per•
sons, he had introduced a test into the measure : he pro-
posed that every man who had been rated for the poor's
rate for twelve months should be entitled to the suffrage.
Her Majesty's Government had approved of this test,
inasmuch as they had introduced it into their measure
for extending the suffrage to Ireland. The question
might be asked to what extent would this measure
increase the number of those possessing the franchise.
The more they placed dependence in a man the more
trustworthy he would be, but to despise and reject a
man, would be to have no hold upon him. What he
wanted then to do was to raise a man in his own moral
estimation, by placing confidence in him—making him,
in fact, a free man and not a slave; for be
held that he who had no voice in electing those who
passed laws affecting life and property was no freeman,
but was in the situation of a bondsman and a slave. He
wished to do equal justice to Ireland, as well as
to England and to Scotland, for he believed that
many of the evils which existed in the former country had
arisen from a system of partial legislation. It appeared
that the population of England and Wales in 1841 was
about 16 millions, and taking the number of ratepayers