The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-28 00:00:00

SALE of SIR J. REYNOLDS'S WORKS

The remaining pictures by Sir J. REYNOLDS,
principally unfinished paintings, sketches, or first
designs, were sold by Mr. CHRISTIE, on Saturday.
As might have been expected from the nature of
the works, the biddings generally lay between
the distinguished artists of the present-day.

The first article of -consequence put up was a sketch-book of
Sir Jostta's. This was, in fact, the rough note-book of his
tour in It cositaincd cursory memorandums of thous.7hts
which struck him upon viewing the great works of art in that
country. The writing, which was scribbled in all directions,
was interspersed by coarse sketches,' apparently illustrati'ie.
The cover was a pLee of flaCcidparchment, tied with a =jug
of dirty tape, The whole, from-its age and service, prcsenttok
-no very handsome appearance, though the anxiety throughout
the room to obtain a view of it was very great. After a warm
contested bidding humeri Mr. Soane,.R.A.,Mr. Turncr,R.A.,
and Mr. Herschel, diciest gentleman obtained it for 1051.

Several sitnilaz hooks of stitched leaves were lint ctp, many
of them with scarcely any thing in them, and they sold as fol.
lows :—One, witia.s36 leaves, for 261. os., to Mr. Soane, R. A.,
the distingtushed Professor of- Archie:eture ; three small ones
to Mr. Herschel, for 311. les. ; three small ones (one without
a cover) to Mr. Rogers, for 161. bs. ! and another with a
pafehment cover, with 84 leaves, filled principally with design:,
for 321. es. ed. to Mr. Soane.
The lots of tie unfinished pictures were separated, and :NI
gr, e.-ater, part of them sold singly ; the principal were—
Portrait of Mrs. Barrington, to Sir S. Barnard, for 171. 17s.
and portrait of an Actress, to Mr. Russel, for 121. 12s. •
A slietch of Admiral Lord Iceppers head (the first painting),
to .Me. Turner, R. A. for' 1. 10,
An untioislied. portrait of himself, by Sir Joshua, for 331.12-s,
•
to Mr. Jackson, R. A.
`ketch for the portraits of the Marquess of Rockingham atlas
Mr. Parke, ac his secretary, to Mr. Cafes, for 111. es.
Miniature portraits in oil of their late Majesties and his pre-
Maj,:ity , when Prince of Wales, sold, the former for 141.
14s. and the latter for 161. 4s. ed.
An early sketch of Sir Joshua fetched 211. 10s.
Moses sir the Bulrushes, was purchased by Mr. Danby for
441. 2s.
. A very unfinished picture, though very beautiful,HMisa
Beaucl.?rc, as UNA, was obtained by Lord Fonnanton.. for
281. 17u.
Sketch of a Holy Family, for 341. 135., by Mr. Danby.
A portrait of Sir Jeshita, for 321. 11.
A copy of iterribrardt's Head, by Sir Joshua, for 20, 14.
_ The mahogony easLl of Sir J. Reynolds, very much tut pt
repair, to Mr, Dyson, for 61. Gr.'

-CLOSE BOROUGHS.

In 1819 Mr. WlLLt.tim WlLLlAMSbiotight in
a 13111 to preventoccasionality in ClOse norouglis-;
'in other words, to render it a STATU,TABLR offence
to manufacture votes in these places an the -eve
of an election. The . public will probably,
re-
collect that this 13111 was lost.on the second read-
; _
utider circumstances upon which it is not, at
present, necessary to comment ; but since then
the necessity of preventing in future occasionality,
not only at Elections, but even at County Meet-
ings, has been acknowledged by the Legislature.
and Pis MAJ'EsTY's first Minister is reported to
haze declared in Parliament on the discussion of
•
the Seditious Meeting's Bill in 1819, that he
would support any measure which might be
brought in to destroy occasionality at _Elections.
In this last-mentioned Bill it is enacted/ that a
Freeholder residing in one'county, but having
'an estate in another, shall not be allowed to at,
tend any. meeting of Freeholders within it, until
he has been-in possession of such estate 'twelve
InOnths, and which must be of the 'annual value
"of 501. We are therefore glad to find that Mr.
WILLIAms has brought in a similar Bill this SeS-
shin, but confining it to freehold boroughs, con-
seqnence we suppose, of the suggestion thrown
-out in 1819 by Mr.4l). GILBERT, who said that
-if the Bill did not extend to burgage tenure
.boroughs, he should support it. For 'ourselves,
we see no reason whatever for any exception of
this nature, but think that the rule'of election
should be general and uniform in all places.—
To bring the subject back to' the recollection of
°Ur readers, we again insert the observations that
-we submitted to them in 1819 on this measure, and
-which Mr. Jonlx NtenoLL, the late Member of
Parliament, has so admirably treated upon in his
recent interesting and popular work, which made
its appearance in the autumn of last year :
" The professed intention and °Mims design of this Bill is
to prevent the abuses which at present prevail in those boroughs
and towns where the right of voting is in freeholders either re-
slant or not, and where for the purposes of election new free-
holders are created up to, and sometimes after, the issuing of
the writs for such election.
It would be a waste of time and of labour to shew that such
practices do exist and have long, existed. Their prevalenceis
proved by numerous instances, ancient and modern, recorded
in. the Journals of the House ; and the personal knowledge and
information of.. every Member must furnish satisfactory testi-
mony to their minds without the statement of particular facts,
or recurrence to recent instances.
It is not the object of this Bill to introduce any innovation in
principle, to invalidate any charter or prescription, or to destroy
-.any established right. It makes no attempt at general reform,
yr the subversion of any known or established franchise, but
-has for its aim and end the simple and satisfactory design of
_malting the rule of election more perfect, and more consonant
to general principle, by remosing one dangerous and invidious
anomaly, which enables the proprietors of freeholds in certain
parts of England to create voters for OCCASIONAL purposes, by
means which have at all times been declared to be contrary to
law ; and have been by repeated Acts of Parliament, particu-
larly by some of those which are referred to in the preamble to
the present Bill, guarded against with all the vigil;nce of the
Legislature, and all the power of the law. It proposes to ef-
l'ect this beneficial object by requiring the voters in towns and
boroughs to take an oath, previous to their voting, similar in
every respect to that . imposed by the 18 Gee. 11. e. s. 1.,
Auld 19 Gee. 11. c. 28. s. 1. on electors of Members of Parlia-
ment for counties, and for cities and towns which are counties
of themselves, except that the oath prescribed by the present
Bill does not specify the value of the freehold, and consequently
Jthe right of voting in the Boroughs and Towns to which this
- Bill applies will remain -unchanged and unaltered.
Upon principle, nothing could be more absurd than to state
'that in a place, where by charter or by custom certain persons
'qualified in a prescribed manner are entitled to select an indi-
vidual to represent the community in the House of Commons,
some person or persons, possessing a large share of that which
constitutes the qualification, may by a mere colourable or pre-
tended distribution of it among friends or dependants, taken for
the purpose without any beneficial interest or title whatever,
over-rule and cleStroy the will and franchise of others wlao have
a real, permanent, and incontestable interest and possession ;
and who, by every rule of law, of justice, and of common sense,
ought to return the representative. It is not more unjust, nor
more destructive of the principles of the Constitution to,pro-
pose that numbers, without regard to property, shall return the
Members to Parliament; than that property shall be so used as,
by. creating fictitious: or occasional numbers, to- annul the rights
of these who, although duly qualified to vote, have, not such a
-redundant property as will enable them at a given moment to
qualify great numbers, -or such an-influence as, if they should
qualify them,would make them certain that such persons would
conform to their wishes. - -
If the only advantage to be'gained by the present Bill were
• the' establishment of an uniform system, and the placing of all
rights on an equal footing, such an advantage is of very high
',importance, especially in a community where all, men reason on
their rights, and where,every departure from the general sys-
, tein, or the declared law, is viewed as an attempt to commit some
wrong, or to invade the liberties and rights of the subject. But
in the present case the evils are not imaginary, nor the wrongs
speeulative. It is known that the making of occasional and
fraudulent votes to support a particular person, or to answer a
present purpose, has been the source of much real injustice;
and, if it has not been, in all particulars, repressed by Parlia-
ment, it has not been because the law was unknown or not suf-
ficiently declared, but because in all attempts . at correcting
abuses or establishingsystems, it has been found that the ear-
'iest attempts were defective, and
-that the first enactments re.
quired frequent alterations and additions before the views of the
Legislature could he. fully accomplished.
Aefore. tbe Grenville Act had fixed the practice of Parliament
an contestCd elections on the basis of purity and. correctness,
and even -before the Ravolinion had established the general
principles of representation„:the law Was strongly and clearly
expressed against the making of occasional rotes in any places
and under any' form, ;',for the purpose of giving ascendancy to
any individual or part} in elections, whether it were of Member
of Parliament or to- any situation Of credit and trust. Conse-
quently, the various enactments relating to the splitting of free-
ll'Oldsi.andlcir the prevention of fraud- and peeasionality,"Whicfi
wssed 'trona:the Revolution to our own times, were:never con-
sidered as privations or undue restrictions, but Merely as the
efforts of wisdom -and integrity, matured by expenence, to
bring back the system' to the state of purity in which the law
had placed it, and in which alone it could be contemplated with
pi?as.sure'aiul respect. .
' In many cages connected Withthe right of voting, on' all nib-
jests, thwPpiniOn of the Legislature has been most decisively
/expressed. Ithaa been so in all the statutes already alluded to ;
-inthat Which'regulated the votes in the General CoUrts of the
East India Company, where not only an additional qualification
in value of stock, but A CERTAIN TERM OF POSSESSION, was
required and even in many matters of less apparent import..
ince; With respect to. the making of occasional votes for towns
and borolaihs,Sor the purposes of Parliamentary Elections, the
law was' most clearly and ably expressed beforeihe Revolution
by the theriChief Justice, Sir Francis Pemberton,-iii a case, the
repart of Which was drawn up by the great Lord. Somers, and
was published in the collection of Tracts whichhearatis name
That was an action brought by Denzil OnSlaw, Esii. against
Rapley, thereturning officer of the labrotigh of Hasle.:
mere; foes false return. It-was tried at the Kingston AssizeS;
in. July, 1681. Among the facts proved on :the part of the
plaintiff, it 'appeared some of the voters-were nth. real burgage
tenants, and that if any Conveyances had been made `to ..them
of liurgagelands, they were-lately made, and fraudulendir con--
bind to make' votesagainst an election. Two had-been -made
after the tegte of dip Parliament -writ, and three others twan-
swer an election purpose five years before. In the of
these qualifications, several instances of gross contrivance were
shewn, and the effect-was aided, byproving that ten or twelve
such conveyances had been made for the purposes of a former
election; 'by the patron of the borough, and had been given up
.to bin Latter the election' was: over.
This evidence making the impression on the Court which it
was so wail calculated to produce, the Recorder of the borough,
Who swag of eotinSerfor. . the defendant, had the imprudence to

* In the first edition in Vol. I. p. 374 ; in the late edition by
Walter Scott, in Vol. VIII. p. 270. •

- •
justify the proceedings, and' to 'say, it was part of the Consti-
tution of our Government to, do so. "At this," says the
Learned Reporter,." t;te Court,seemed,yery angry, anti won-
dered that any one, eispeB4y of the gown, should say 'so; - and
said, Do your think our GoVerinifeirt no better COnstitu-
tiOu ?" . .With which-the gentleman not being satisfied, he was
told by the• Court, he,deserved to be taken netice of for say-
ing so, and that :helteerfied to-have advised the thing done."
Respecting the inakintof fictitious votes at-former elections,
the patron of the borough attempted,to say something the
way of excuse, but
-the Court-toil him " It was too bad to be
excused:"

Under the direction of tilt Learned Judge, a verdict was
given for the plaintiff: and in - the course of the evidence, the
C;ourt having observed one individual to be so active and busy
'in the cause as to kayo no doubt' of his being an instrument in
the illegal transactions which were disclosed, compelled him to
give sureties to appear in the following term, to answer to an
information-for a misdemeanour, and bound over .111 r: Onslow
to preseeute

This case the Learned Reporter justly ehtitles " a memor-
able ease." During the whole trial, he says, the cause was
managed with great care and circumspection, the Court declar-
ing it was of great weight ; as great as any that ever-came there
to be tried.

" The Court," he adds, " had great reason to shew an ex-
traordinary abhorrency of such practices, for that the mischief
is grown almost general, and to -rectify and punish which
abuses the. Housz_of Commons in, every Parliament are com-
pelled to pass more than half their time."—" But because," he
continues, " here is by statute law no particular provision made
against such practices, many by sordid means have endeavoured
to perplex elections and debauch parliaments, and_ think them-
selves not punishable for it. This case and the reason of it
will better inform them, that by the rule of the common law an
offepce .of this nature is punishable ; for will any man think
that small frauds, cheats, and practices should undergo a cen-
sure in the 'ordinary:Courts :of' Justice, and not such great
violations of -truth and honestpiti 'matters of the greatest mo-.
ment ?". . • ,•

Such were, the declarations of the law, and
,the reflections
arising froth theni, at a period when the rule of the Constitution
was. not perfectly fixed; and whenathe independence of the
Judges was not secured by making them irremoveable while
they should conduct themselves properly.
Since that period, .none of. the doctrines thus laid down and
promulgated have been oyer-rided, or even controverted in de-
, ,ate ; but in practice they.are set at bought at every election.—
The difficulties •and disadvantages, under which a plaintiff or
prosecutor must lie who should institute a suit for any of these
mal-piactices, deter them from going into 'Courts ; while the
patrons of boroughs, unawed by declarations which impunity
teaches them to disregard, and encouraged perhaps by the acci-,
dental omission of the particular right of voting pointed at .in
the present Bill, have gone on violating the law, and deriding
its prohibitions. -
The present Bill, therefore, is framed for the purpose of giv-
ing effect to the law as declared, not by Sir Francis Pemberton
alone, but by many other great men on the Bench, and in and
out of Parliament, since his time;—for the purpose of bringing
the practice of the law of elections to that state of uniformity in'
which all reasoning men delight, and in which alone true jus-
tice can be found ;—and for the purpose of 'repressing abuses
too notorious to be denied, and too gross to be 'defended."