The Sun.
London, England, 1821-04-19 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY REFor..m.

Mr. LAMBTON then rose to bring forward his motion.
At this -moment the House presented a singc.lar appearance;
the Opposition side of the House being filled with Members,
while not ,rno--e -than 20 Members were thinly scattered over
the Ministerial Benches. The Chancellor of the Exchequer
and. Mr. Bragge Bathurst were . seated side by side, on the
Treastify Bench, and they were the only Members on the
. Bench •so designated. Mr. Lambton said, he rose to bring
under. the consideration of the house the state of the Repro..
sentation of the I'Tople of England. He was at all times most
unwilling to trespass upon the time and attention of the House,
and be could assure the House, that nothing but his anxious.
desire to. promote a great public good, and to put an end to
those dissentions which 'prevailed generally among all classes
of the community, could have induced him to take up a great
and important question, to which lie felt himself not compe-
tent to do justice. Among the difficulties which he had to
.contend with, was the disinclination which had been invariably
shown by that /Raise to the subject--a disinclination founded,
perhaps., on the reluctance which ail men and all bodies of men
had, to listen to accusations. of • themselves. If any proof
were :wanting of .that disinclination? he shonld find it in the.
state of the .benches opposite . to lute.,—(Hear, hear !)—The
preticat state of those benches might almost tempt him to make
his motion at once, and take the sense of the House upon it,
for his .flon.•Friendi would far , outnumber the chosen few
he saw opposite to him. Under.' all the circumstances, how-
ever, he would not sutler himself to be'tempted into So irreatu-
Tar a course. If the .•attendancr. on the 'Ministerial Benches
was meant as a mark of insult to himself, he should treat it
with contempt.—(Hear, hear !)--If the insult was pointed at
the question which' he had the honour to bring forward, it
would be a lesson to' the people of England when they heard
of. the contempt with which their complaints were treated, and
the manner in which thegreat question upon which they rested
all their hopes, was received by the Right Holt-Twins oppo-
site.—(boud laughter.),--(We presit:he the Hon. Member al-
luded to the Chancellor of the rxchcquer and-. Mr. Bragge
Bathursto—Upon a questir;n which agitated the minds and
excited the hopes of every class of the community, the people
of England, would hear. of the way in which it was graciously li
-received by the two representatives of the oyster dredgers of
Harwich.—(Laughter.)--Ile (Mr. Lambton) felt the disadvan-
tage under which he laboured in following. the eminent and
Allustrieus characters who had at various times brour,ht this
question under the conaideratLet of the House. He had to

contend also against the overwhelming eloqueTce of a RIO':
lion. Gentleman, who had invailably opposed himself ttiAtt
Reform, and never exerted his great taints with more zeal an 1
energy than when they were directed against a.--e extension af
the system of representation. Under -these circumstances h
trusted the House would extend that indulgence, which wa ;
at no time more necessary than on the present oceaeion. ITC
was anxious to conciliate a large portion of the eon:rho,
nity, who loudly, but steadily _comploir.ed. Of that • depri-
vation of the benefits of tile Constitution, Whiet.h was tee
effect of a long system of misrule and nrismaeagemert,
of gress and notorious corruption. Undoubtedly a' sea-
Tit of discontent had stalked abroad, Which coal to
longer be lulled by promises which had been as readily -male
as they were openly violated. The effect; of rationed &iv 7R..
ton, and the consequent c xpansicn of irteliect =tong ieel:A.f.a
and middle classes, rendered it impossible that the systeni of
misrule and-delusion could be enntinned. He was confirmed in
this opinion by an authority, by withd; lie se:ould scarcely leiVe
expected to find his argument supported. autho4ty to
which he alluded was no other than that of Mr. i;testitteetedst,
who had declared in his charge to thew-elect .'try at Maechflster,
that the great diffusiOn.oflearning rendered it ne-sa-etaey voirttOpt
different .measures from those welch pecvailed earies.a eaditat
of ignorance. It would be as absurd, continued. -t.hat Leer *1
Judge, to adhere to the measures formerly adepttd antler the
new circumstances which had arisai, as to treat animated
doings in the same manner es things inanineete. ln these see tie
ments; he (Mr. L.) cordially cohenned. He h innself lied
an opportunity, within no very disteen parlor, of judging -Of die
- ince-450. intelligeric.c geoishoilsee*O4o4lotedititko.
,North of England. They exaninsedthegettet pnnte, of
• national policy with the niost yigilard attenn ern men &old.
doubt -that the lower-and middle orders of sodicty, nine *dee at
one time remarkable only for -their apathy, and subseevitaey to
the higher classes, were now as much distinguished fcr a spirit
of active zeal and intelligence, which wanted only a fit occaaiOn
to be called forth in every part of the empire. Theanarnerous
Petitions which had been brought befora-tne 'Heusi:, all Mahe:Leg
on the necessity of Reform, ought to convince teem then the
just and , salutary work of amelioration and coticcision
would alone satisfy the minds of the people. Sooner or later
complete justice must be done ; and was the present state of the
country such as to render ft wise or expedient to defer it ? We
hada debt of 8502000,0001.,an wined expenditure of 5:?,000,000la
a system of galling and oppressive taxation, . with a rev:tett:lk
falling off in proportion to the severity of the public lartheas.
Our commerce was in a state of extreme depression, and a; to
the agricultural interests, while the higher Classes were reduced
to the greatest difficulties, the labouling chsses were in a stede
of actual starvation. We had a standing army of 80,000 men,-
and that military system which had excited the constitutional
jealousy of our ancestors was now openly defended, while it
was no less openly avowed that seats in flat, Hoose were pub-
licly bought and sold. Alarms of conspiracies and rehellioe.snad
been repeatedly raised, and they were told nolonger ate) than. last
night, by a-Noble Lord opposite, that this was- the first year of
dornesnepeac,e. Ourgaols were overflowing with criminals, are
our eyes perpetually disgusted with most barbarous, bleodYeeied
wanton executions, the effect of the' unnecessary severity of out
criminal laws. Neither was there any accession of honour to
the national character by the policy which we . had pursued
abroad. Our repeated violations of the most sacred pledges-adour
conduct towards Norway, Genoa, Saxony and Perga—our steady
support of all the feudal abuses which it was the object of the
Holy Alliance to maintain and bolster up, were little calculated
to add to raise this country in the estimation of foreignem--
Under such circumstances was it not natural that every relleit-
ing mind should endeavour to ascertain the cause.ofth:is degra-
dation of the national character? They need not look fat far
the source and origin of that degradation, for it was tc-e
found in the corruption of that branch of the Legislature
which professed to represent the people of England. The undue
exercise of the prerogative, and the tyrannical encroaeltments of
the Crown were succeeded by an easier and surer method Or in the liberties of the people through a.corrupt majority of
the House of Commons. Since that fatal,period, the liberties of
the people were at themercy of the existing Adnainistradoneressi,
we only owed it to their forbearance, that they had not haaaa.
completely destroyed. Such a weight of power had been ehroten
into the hands of the Government, di:zoneh the inituence_of the
Crown, as the people in the present state of tee representaden
were incapable of resisting. The peat Majority of the Rhi,te-
sentatives of the peeple were'. returned.by the crop-: and a • few
Peers. Was it not, therefore, the duty of ea ery true lore: ci Lis
country to endeavour to- xsstrain and diminish the infest:mt. e of
the Crown, that influence which had increased the national
debt to the amount of • 1,000,0001. during the late reign ? he
people of England were not in effect represented in the Legisla-
ture, for he was ready to prove at the liar of that House, that
180 individuals returned by nomination or otherwise nalaSsehan
380 Members. He would not trouble the House by entering into
details which were so eotorious to be familiar to eyershere-
ber of the House. One Noble Lord not now in his place teed ro
reason to-bedelighted by any accession of constitutional weight
which had accrued to his character, from the course he had taken
with regard to the return of Members to that House. To pre--
vent the further continuance of this. system of things was the
object of • his motion. In his opinion the elective franchise
should be extended to all householders, leaseholders and copy-
holders ; all decayed, venal and corrupt boroughs should be
disfranchised, and a return should be made to Menthe' Parlia-
ments. It was not his intention to enter into a long history of
the origin and constitution of the House of Commons. He
would merely 'allude shortly to the various Acts; width had
been passed at different times with reference to this subject.
He was aware that this was a dry subject, but he relied upon
the indulgence of the Rouse in affording him a patient hearing.
The Hon. Member then referred to - the ,3tl Ed. I t;•-Chr.
11., the Triennial Act . passed in theihh
.year of William and
Mary, and 1 Geo. I. or Septennial Act, and' proCeeded to 'eats
and comment upon the • several clauses. The Shiite/Mita Act •
was, in his opinion, a • most daring and unconstitutional - exer,
cise of authority. It •was founded, uud.oubtedly; epontirennie:
stances of temporary necessity, for ihwas nossihle -that a Ma—
jority adverse to the Brunswick family, might have -been deea
turned at that time. .Historians differed much upon, this pab•itedis •
his own opinion, however, was that hoWever grateful
was bound to be for the exclusion of the' Stuarts, they most
ever regret the means by which that excitation had been adetiria
ed as most dangerous and unconstitutional. With reg.thl to
electors, he was satisfied, after the meet mature deliberation',
that all freemen possessing property, and cositeibutirtg to ibis
support of the State, possessed the right of vetting, by. the Lars:and Constitution of this country. Tlie Hon.Mernter referred
to the first writ of summons in the reign of EdVto,L, 7'H en. IV.'
c. 15,11 Hen. IV., and 1 Hen. V. in confirmation of this opi-
nion. A hundred and thirty-four' yeara after this rightehed
been solemnly recognised, came the 'Act. of BHerr. Vt. whiles
first limited the right of voting for knights of the Oilireto fevz-
holders to the amount of 40s. "'lle next branchof the trkcitArt
which he should propose was the. clisfeanthisetrient
rupt, venal, and decayed boroughs. As to 'whether the Ovuorat
of those boroughs ought to receive compensation, as aueested
by Mr. Pitt, he was decidedly of opinion that they etOltheled.
'These dealers in the White S/ave Trade would hot t. d ,Petted.
of any thing which they ought to possess, They would aced helve
their land and houses, their legal and constitutional postaety,
and they would be debarred tinly.of their corrupt anal. arse-ea,2:l-
- practice of selling seats in Parliament. •It was -
doubtedly difficult to obtain a mean between numbers p_a.
ro
party, in apportioning the right of voting. Pro/setter was cer-
tainly, the best basis on which to found' the Eleetavelitenchise,
because it afforded the best pledge of the unbiassed and:sle-
pendent exercise of that franchise. The rystem of r.otinionaly
corrupt and decayed Boroughs loudly called foe Reformation.
He was not so presumptuous as to say, that the plan which he
had to propose was the best that could be devised ; out in
bringing this question forward, it. was but fair to state at 'once
in what way ,he thought a change of the present system Might
be most beneficially carried into effect The pritieple 'of
change was not- new, it had been acted upon at 'varioite !lines
and in various instances. This apeared from tt1e.137 11.714.1.
and no H.' VIII. The 34 H. Viii. extended,' `gave tfie elec-
tive franchise to the County Palatine' f.Chester, aird the 25,1 A.
11. gave to the inhabitants, of Durham the power of senkatng
two Knights for the 'county, anti two Pongesst for the•
He (Mr. L.) was peculiaely • intexested in this laid statute, and
he was above all others called upeon to. maintain the rights-of
the unrepresented classes of the community who wereli'otie t
taxation, and consequently of all houeholdeiseleeseholders;
and copyholders. With this view. he had I*-rt.pritatti a Bi'4,•, with
the assistance and cordial co-operation ot a Leaned Friend,
the heads of which he would proceed to detail, thoagh he wat
aware, that in so doing, he must trespass considerably /spent the
patience and indulgence of the House. The Hot ertatile
Member then entered into a min to detail of the provisyahe of.
the Bill under the heads of election far sbsuicts, Lratl‘f4r coun-
ties. He was awoire, he said, that' theie details tenet falnue
the Henze, but having pledged limaell to being forleaseis