The Sun.
London, England, 1821-05-11 00:00:00

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that had been done, he had highly approved of
-the enactment, and, if he should adopt a diffe-
rpnt course on this•occasion, it should be-only
because he did not.think that the same remedy
would apply. The situation of Grampound made
it impossible to throw that Borough open to the
nundred without great inconvenience. It was
well known that Cornwall abounded with, Bo-
roughs ; but though there were more boroughs in
Cornwall than in any other county, there were-
not more Cornish Members in the House. To
throw. open those boroughs to the hundreds,
would be ;to make that which was only an evil in
theory,....one in reality for it would make the.
representation- more local, and
_exclude persons,
from. other parts of.the country from a participa-
tion in it. At the same time he had a great ob-
jection at one part Of the yernetly."
.proppsod.„, If
the elective franchise were transferred to. Leeds,
the qualification would be arbitrdty, for there
was no fixed principle on which it could" be
formed. Some would go on the ground of pro-
perty, whilst others would be for giVing it to all
householders, a system of which he had seen-too
much, not to have discovered the evils which re-
sulted from it, and 'how liable it Is as to, that very
species of corruption which it was the intention of
the present measure to punish and prevent. Neither
could he approve of a very limited qualification,
as it would give an obnoxious character to the
Bill. He thought it would therefore be better to
have -recourse at once to broad find fixed :princi-
ples, which could be done by giving two addi-
tional Members to the County of York.: So many
difficulties attended the transfer of the Elective
Franchise to Leeds,,that he'did• net see- his way
out of them ; but if two Members were added to
the representation of -Yorkshire, or that county
was divided into two,
.the. House would. then
take and transfer the right of, election as it
found it, without the necessity of creating :any
fresh rules or qualifications. But
:should theiree
Lordships object both to Leeds and to York-
shire, there was another course which might be
still more ,beneficial. Parliament' might, after
disfranchising Grampound, authorise his Ma-
jesty, through the• exercise of his prerogative, to
order that two Members, should be returned from
any place which he might think proper, or; to
revive an old borough. The last borouz,lt
which had been created, .. that of uwarl
had been. created . by. the Peoyal . Prerogative,
This course would' obviate most, of the
ties •in which the subject was, involved, at -the
same time that it would -be perfectly cotsis-
tent with the Constitution.
.When a Corporation
had forfeited its charter, there WRS nothing- to
prevent the Crown from reviving that charter
and grantitig it to another body. The course .to •
which he had alluded would be the same, and, he
conceived, more advantageous and unobjectionable
than that now proposed to be pursued by Parlia=
went. Should it.be decided that the prerogative of
the Crown should be exercised to create a new re-
presentation, 'the first thing which 'would be tine.
would be to select some popiilous town' in the
country, and to grant it a charter of corporation
as similar as circumstances would allow, to
those of our ancient corporate cities. Would not
this be a more 'substantial principle,..and keep
more effectually in the ,view of the people_ the
origin of the House of Commons, than the
mode of legislating proposed in the present
Bill ? He had thus stated. his. opinion, that
a case of gross corruption had been ,made out ;
that it was proper to transfer the right of
election, from Grarnpound to some other part of
the country ; that it would be best disposed
of by creating two additional Knights of the
Shire for the County of York, and that if this
course•were not approved of, it ,would be con-
sistent with the spirit of the Constitution to al-
low the Prerogative. of the Crown.to act on the
occasion. -He should now only add, that he
shoUld feel it'his duty, in the .Committee, to pro-
pose, that the elective franchise be transferred
to the County of York instead, of the Town of
Leeds.

. .
Tbe Earl of LAUDERDALE maintained that no
case of general
.corruption had been established
against the Grampound Electors, for that there
were at present 51 Electors who bad a right of
voting, and out of those, 32 against whom there
had been no charge whatever. To punish the
innocent for the acts of the guilty would be a
most unjust and mischievous system -of legis-
lation.

The Martinis
.of 14ANsnowNE,regarded the Bill
as calculated not. only to command their Lord-
ships' assent, but as entitled to.the tnost favour-
able consideration, from the importance of the
Principle of moderate Reform which it involve,d,
mid which would tend to perpetuate the Consti-
tution, by investing it 'with.the reipect.and con-
fidence of the people. Jie.thought it. \his duty,
at the same- time, to enter his, protest against be-
ing involved in any assent to the suggestion of the
Noble apposite; respecting the exercise of the
prerogative of the Crown in the transferof t4e elec-
tive franchise. .The principle would now be alto-
velty in the constitution of the.,couutry,wlth the
appearance of a return to.ancient privileges. and
customs. It had been in,diSuse since the Revo-
lution, and could not be revived after the. UniOn

. .
N'vith Scotland and that with Ireland, had taken.
place and after the Hoine of Commons had

cquired- a degree of influence in the Government

of the Country, totally different from thqt wh►ic
it possessed at the time when the prerogative hart
been in use. 'The Crown ought to.be a party to,
the selection, only as, one branch of the Legislik-
ture, and in Concurrence with the other two.

Though he..should pi:4er granting the right a
election to Leeds, yet should he find the sense of
the: House against that provision, he should not