The Sun.
London, England, 1821-06-01 00:00:00

Actording to the opinions -most received on the
subject, the House of Com Mons ought to be the
living image of the people:, but. how could that
he the case so long as so many. abuses existed in
the mode of sending Members to that House, and
so long as all the officers and dependents of Go-
vernment were adinitted to-seats.. lie did not
mean to exclude all the Members-of Government
or all Placemen from the Honse, "but it was impos.
sible that the House of Commons could ever be
the proper. Representative of the nation, so long
as the Minister of the day vas. enabled to corn.
mand large majorities of the gentry of England
to carry any measure, however-prejudicial to the
interests, or hostile to the feelingS of the nation.
The lion. Member referred to different periods
of the History of England, to strew; that, when-
ever the power of the CrorVri had been exerted
over the House of Commons, it had produced the
worst effects, and it was in those- times that inlets
had been made for the admission of so many Go-
vernment Officers. The necessity -of reforming
the abuses which had been" allowed to gain a
head in the preceding corrupt- clines, was eschi-
bited in the Act of the 16th of George the Second,
for the purpose of clearing " that *House of all.
clerks and underlings, and fer the retention of
those only who were actually necessary for the
administration of Government. The next attempt
of a similar nature was the celebrated Bill of Mt.
Burke for abrogating the-power of-the Crown--
a Bill which the nation and the Ifoi/se saw to be
necessary, but in which they were certainly dis-
appointed. As to the present state of the House,
no one could doubt, who, like himself, had been so
long acquainted with it that since- the year )812
the majorities, except in great national ques-
tions, were invariably composed.- of placemen.
No one could doubt the augmented influence of
the Crown, when the collection of the Revenue
cost four millions, which was a greater sum
than was possessed by George :fhe Second when
the Act of the 42d was passed, and greater
than when George the Third ascended the
Throne. This being the state of things, it was
the object of his measure to follow up the old
practice, viz. to exclude from that House the
clerks arid underlings. In reviewing the esta-
blishment of the different departments of Go-
vernment, it would be found that from the Trea-
sury they had six Members of that House. There
was the Chancellor of the Exchequer and five
Clerks. The Chancellor of -the EXChequer was
an Officer of Government necessary in that
House ; but as for the Clerks, he thought if he
left one for Ireland and one Sot-England they
would have quite enough of thenf. The three
others might be as well employed .at the Trea-
sury doing the business of the-Board, as doing
what was termed the business- of...that House.—
The two Secretaries he would not touch—they
were useful and intelligent perscins.' The office of
Foreign Secretary, the House saw 'Was ably filled -
by the Noble Lord opposite, and of course no doubt
could. he entertained of the prOpriety of his re-
maining in the House. The Home Secretary and
the Secretary for the Colonial Department, at
present filled by Peers, should- also-remain eli.
gibtefor the House of Commons.- The Secretary
for Ireland he should not object: to,but as to the
-Vice-Treasurer -of Ireland, he really could see
no "use whatever for him. He had been in a mi-
nority on a motion of the late Mr...Ponsonby for
reduCiriA,, the salary of that Officeefrom 35001. to
20001: per ann. which would have been carried in
the affirmative, but for the Placeme.6 in the House,
who negatived the motion by 100 against 98. He
should next advert to the India House; from which
they had four Members.' Out of these Gentlemen
he would retain only the President, arid turn the
othet- three out. They were of no :Manner of use
there; and, lie believed, no where "else. They-
had not heard the word "India 7 fall from the
mouth of any individual in that Jtonse since the
year 1813. They had seen nothing.of their an.
nua I budget since that time, arid, in short,
knew no more of it than they did of the planet
Jupiter. No .one thought of ane seemed
to care whether it swam or sunk,.*hether the in.
habitants
-were happy or miserableidrid, as he
said: before, they had heard nothing of it since
1813, except amotion of an Hon... Friend behind
him,`arid a'vete of thanks for the Marquess of
Hastings. All the -asseverations-of Mr. Pitt,
made in the usual flourishing way of that great
master of the art of flourishing, as to the Officers
of that Board doing their work for nothing, had
been falsified. He should next go. to the Board
of Admiralty, from which they liad-'seven Mem-
bers. There, were the five Lord_ s; at :Ot.e thou-
sand pounds a year each ; and the two Comp-
trollers, and what did they do ? They spoke a
little when. the,Navy Estimates came:..ko be dis-
cussed; but when they found one.. Noble Lord
(Lord Palmerston) belonging. to aeoth-er depart-
Merit, fighting singly .as. arduous-and-. volurnin-

ous a war, as 4cl ever been carried, on upon
the Estimates, what could be the use of seven
for this department, except to encircle Go_
vernment with a body of staunch' allies in
all their enterprises ? They might be:excellent
adherents- of Government, but they .werevery
bad Members, of Parliament. The Treasurer
he should have undisturbed, and also two Lords,
and he hoped the time was coming when they
should hear no more of Lay Lords. He
should also leave the Secretary, and that was being
more liberal than he would be, except that he
wished to meet the scruples of those who might
be opposed to him half way. Ile next-came to
the Ordnance, belonging to which department
there were four sitting in that House. He pro.
posed to leave only two, leaving to Government
to chose which of them they pleased. The Se.

cretary at War, of course, he should leave in the
House, and hold him up as a pattern of• how a
Board might be .carried pn by one Officer only.
The Judge Advocate and the Paymaster of the
Army he should also leave. Then there was

the Master of the Minty whom individually
speaking he should be sorry to lose, but as Master.

of the Mint he did. not know what title-he had

to sit there. -He believed there were two persons
attached to the Woods and Forests, one of whom
would be sufficient. Next there weTe• persons
connected with the Household that, he thought,
were entirely out of place. 'There were two

Lords of theßedchaml;er) who certainly had uo