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

long speeches were made, and the Bill was abandoned.
Was it not evident to the country that they were hypo-
crites? What had the Reform Act done for us ? Our
expenditure in 1830 was 52,018,0001.; in 1835,
48,787,0001. ; in 1849, 57,581,000/.—(Hear, hear.)
Since the passing of the Reform Bill we had
added 41,000,000/. to our national debt. By the
reductions of .the interest the fundholders had been
mulcted 1,452,0001., or the interest of the debt would
have been so much more than at present.—(Hear, hear.)
No doubt great improvements had resulted since the
Reform Act; but he (Mr. Osborne) agreed with the Hon.
Member for Surrey when he said that the Crown had no
power, and that it was a sort of president's chair.
There had been a change of parties, a shuffle of the
cards,:since the famous resolution, and now the influence
of the -House of Lords—of the aristocracy, " had in-
creased, was increasing, and ought to be diminished."—
(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Osborne) had no wish to see the
House cf Commons completely tenanted by one class ;
but he found that thirty-three Peers sent fifty-two Mean-
hers there ; and that, in fact, the House was enacting a
sort of _High Life below Stairs.—(A. laugh.) Many an
Hon. Member was nothing more than " my Lord Duke's
man"—(A laugh)—and no doubt the " Lady Bib's" re-
presentative was in the list. (Laughter.) Lord
Brougham, in his " Political Philosophy"—(Oh, oh)—
we must draw a distinction between his speeches and
his pen—(A laugh)—anything proceeding from his
pen was entitled to some degree I. f respect
(Laughter)—Lord Brougham said there would be no such
thing as bribery if there were no small constituencies,
and he noticed that lodgers were excluded from the
franchise, and the most ingenious artizens, the men of
letters, scientific men, and that by a law framed for the
purpose of drawing a line between ignorance and intelli-
gence; no doubt it did draw the line, and left informa-
tion on the excluded coast.—(Hear, hear.) But, was
there no other form of corruption but that of money—no
other means of bringing up unwilling members to vote?
It was generally supposed that the whip was the emblem
of the Secretary to the Treasury; but Hon. Members
were in the secret, and knew very well that it was the
fishing-rod—(A laugh) —and :the Parliamentary Izaac
Walton—(A. laugh)—was indeed an expert " fisher of
men."—(Laughter.) He knew well how to throw the line
skilfully for a country gentlete an—(Laughter)—he knew
how to bob fir a patriot.—(Great laughter.) Garters or
ribands did for some; but that House had a peculiar
fancy for the honours of the bloody hand.—(Renewed
lenghter.) When the Melbourne Ministry was in diffi-
cultihs, and Europe was ransacked for a vote, aho did
not remember the miraculous draught of baronets that
appeared all alive th the Gazette one afternoon?—(Much
laughter.) The days of chivalry were gone; it was easier
for a Member to win his spurs by succouring a Minister
in difficulties than by briaking a lance fir a damsel in
distress.—(Loud laughter). Did this apply to one side
of the House alone ? What said a great Conservative
paper the other day, apologizing for the small division
on the:Address? He road, in the Horning Herald, that
al Lion. Member " wished to be invited to the Duke of
De sanshire's hall, which he hotel to accomplish through
Lord John"—(A. laugh)—that another was to have his
lady and daughters commended to her Majesty's next
hail; a tfiird wanted promotioa in the navy for his son,
and another wished a sin sent as an attache to Vienna
or Paris; while a fourth hoped to get a piece of ground
on easy terms from the Woods and Forests.—(L 'tighter.)
Thu:, though money was not paid to gentlemen out of
the Treasury, there were, notwithstanding, inducements
held out to them that acted as eMetaally; and therefore
he said they hail no business to call themselves a pure
House of Commone.—(Hear.) As to the hallot, he was
ready to admit that both its evils and advantages were
exaggerated; bat if the people wished it, and it there
Was a probability of thereby extinguishing corruption,
why should it nit be given ? He would advocate the
ballot as a protection against the passions of the many as
well as against the prejudices of the few.---(Elear.) As
to the inequality of the representation, why should Not-
tingham, with a population of 51,000, only send two
Members to Parliament, while fight small boroughs in
South Devon also sent two each ? He rega aled house-
hold suffrage as nothing more than a return to the an-
cient practice, the principle of which was clearly laid
down in Sergeant Glanville's Committee, as rff rred to
by tile Hon. Meath: r for Mantrote. (Hear, hear.)
They were told by the Secretary for the Home Depart-
ment that he wished to walk in the ancient ways of the
constitution. Why. one cf the ancient ways of the con-
stitution was triennial Parliaments—(hear)—and when
gentlemen connected revolutionary sentiments with trien-
nial Parliame al, he asked them if it was triennial Par-
liaments that destroyed the mot arch; ? The answer
must be no. It was septennial Parliaments that must be
called revolutionary; aid so far from the advocacy of
even annuli Parliements being an innovation, he found
that in 1745 a motion fir annual Parliament; was re-
jected by a majority of only 35.—(Hear, hear.) With
regard to electoral districts, he confessed ho felt some
difficulty, but he did not pledge himself to all the propo-
sitions of the llon. Member for Montrose by votieg for
his Bill.—(Hear, hear.) He voted for it because he saw
no prospect ef reform from any other quarter. The
Noble Lord refused to bring in a Bill. He (Mr. Osborne)
felt that they could not stay as they were, and he was
obliged, therefore, to take the proposition of the Hon.
INfember for Montrose, as coming nearest to his views.—
(Hear.) Historians seemed to think that our ancestors
had fallen into great mistakes on the subject of elections
in consequence of their ignorance ef the actual state of
the population. The great Lord Shaftesbury, he be-
lieved, first agitated this point of electoral districts; and
another Chancellor, Lerd Brougham, was also favourable
to the establishment cf electoral districts, That Noble
and Learned Lord stated, in a publicised work, that
the only real a rnedy was extending the number of
vet 'rs ; or, if that was inapotFilile, increasing the size of
the elect Oeicae"— (ile:.r. hear.) He did net rich
to !el ;t) the country into distrhsls, bin he was much in-
choei to consolidate several small boroughs together,
as was the ease in Scotlan 1. —(lleer, hear.) The
Honourable Member fur Gl+ 5p...., a le w nights
ago brought forward a motion fir the enfranchisement
of five parishes in this vicinity—Hammersmith, Chel-
sea, &c., a district inhabited by people of the highe:t
rest e stability, a great proportion of them being literary
meta and which paid poor-rat ?s to the extent of 500,0001.
The Heine Secretary spoke en that occasion, and, he
believe), seid very little; but there was an Hen. Gen-
tleman (Mr. Campbell) who gave the most extraordinary
reasons he gal ever heard f:r not agreeing to the mo-
tion, reasons which he had read with great regret, as he
was the son of one of the greatest men in this country,
who had made his own f rtune, and who boasted that ha
liked " plain John Camplaeli" better than any title that
could be conferred upon him.—(Laughter.) That Lion.
Gentleman, who seemed to have real English history in
the spirit of a dancing-master, told the House that he
had attended a parochial dinner in this district, and he
thought the low people not fit for the franchise.—(Laugh-
ter.) Low people! Why, his information was, that the
Hon. Gentleman had attended the dinner and made a
long speech fall of quotations from Aristotle, and then,
because his hearers did not relish the speech, he said
they were dull fellows and not fit far the franchise.—
(Laughter.) He would ask the Hon. Gentleman ifhe knew
all the voters who supported him at Cambridge? Did
the Hon. Member for Cambridge know who were the
voters that supported him from Barnwell?—(Great
laughter.) He hoped the Hoe. Gentleman would take
the earliest opportunity of attending another parochial
dinner and making the amende honorable to the people
of Hammersmith, Knightsbridge, and Chelsea.—(A
laugh.) But another gentleman, it appeared, had else-
where sneered at the Hon. Member fur the West Riding
or not being educated at Oxford, and seemed to think
that no gentleman could be a leader of a party without
having an university education.—(Hear, hear.) Did the
Hon. Gentleman who made use of these remarks
throughout the country know that his own leader was
not educated at the university?—(Hear, hear.)
Did he remember that the Noble Lord was
not educated at the Univerity ? He would sup-
port the motion before the House, because he
believed it would add to the security of the constitution
and promote the cause of freedom and industry; and he
would support it because he believed it would make that
House what it ought to be—the House of the Commons
of England.—(Cheers.)
Mr. IL BERKELEY wished to say but one word.
He congratulated his Hon. Friend on having a distinct
intimation from the Home Secretary that he was pre-
pared to meet one part of this question on a (future occa-
sion. The difficulty they had had for the last thirteen
years, since the ballot was brought forward, was to get
Ministers—on their legs—(A laugh)—but the Right
Hon. Gentleman now told them he would meet and
answer that question.
Mr. LOCKE KING, amidst loud cries for a division,
moved the adjournment of the debate, but the cries
being renewed with vehemence, he said that, seeing that
the wish of the House was against his motion, he would
withdraw it.
It was accordingly withdrawn, and the House then
divided on the original motion of Mr. Hume, when there
appeared
For the motion...
Against it

••• 96
Majority ...242
Mr. AGLIONBY moved for leave to bring in a Bill
to effect th© compulsory enfranchisement cf lands of
copyhold and customary tenure.
Sir G. GREY said, that after the report made by the
copybold commission he would not oppose the introduc-
tion of the Bill, but he could not promise the support of
the Government in its future stages.
Sir R. INGLIS was disinclined to encourage needless
amateur legislation. Not even a person of the most san-
guine imagination could hope that the Bill would be car-
ried, and therefore ho would vote against the motion for
leave to introduce it.
Lord D. STUART supported the motion.
The House divided, and the numbers were—
Ayes
Noes

... 97
, . 32

Majority ...
Mr. F. MAITLE moved for and obtnined leave to bring
in a Bill to render more simple and eff, etual the titles by
which congregations or societies, asso2,iatk d for purposes
of religions worship or edaca'ion in Sealant], hold real
property required for such purpose.
The House adjourned, at a Quarter to One o'clock.

CRUCEFlX.—Elsewhere, in our advertising
colainns, will be found a last tribute of respect, ad-
miration, and gratitude to the memory of this amiable
and excellent philanthropist. we have a melancholy,
satisfaction in pining our voice with those of the ad-
mirers of Dr. Cruceilx, and in thus expressing a kin-
dred feeling of regret at his departure.
The large manufactory far the distillation cf bittu-
micous products at Cordesse, near Autun, was last weak
entirely destroyed by fire, notwithstanding the utmost
exertions of the people of the place and the surround-
ing country. The water thrown on the flames by the
engross appeared only t..) increase their intensity. The
to:al loss of the property is estimated at 255,000 f.; only
55,000 f. of which are covered by insurance.