The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-06 00:00:00

on the public grounds that it was not7to the satisfaction of the
public mind, that the Magistracy sh'ould be appointed exclu.
sively from innen of one politic,' opinion. It wan not to reget-
elle tee peep.e to puluical appointments, but it would reconcile
them to the administration ut justice, to see that it was not,
placed exclusively in the hands of one party. Ile had listened
to this debate with great interest, and with some surprise;
his Right Honourable Friend hitd been charged with
shaking the confiirence of the people in the administration of I
justice, by giving a predominance to Conservatives on the
Beech. He quoted the numbers at Guildford and North-
amptore to show that the numbers had Duly been equalised,
and stated, that in Manchester, the Liberal Magistrates had
themselves, very justly, expressed a wish to have some gsntle-
men of opposite opini .rns placed in the Commission. He denied
that the appointment of Conservative Magistrates had any
tendency to shake the public confidence in the administration
of justice. Louktng at the state ut the Magistracy when the
present Gov: rnrnent Caine into power, he asked them whe-
ther, on their own showing, or their own principles,
for the purpose of removing erroneous impressions. something I
ought riot to be done ? He would take the towns of Manches-
ter,
Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds. In these towns there I
were 118 Magistrates, and their proportions were striking in
the greatest degree. Out of the 116, twenty were Conserve-
tives, and nine. y-eight were Liberals. In Liverpool the num-
hers were twenty-five to six ; in Manchester, twenty-nine to I
four; in Birmingham, twenty-seven. to six; in Leeds, eevea-
teen to four. Under these circumstances, what matter was it
who recommended them ? If they knevrehe proportion to be
unjust, and that, if, on account of that disproportion, there
.was a tendency to weaken the confidence of the people in the
administration of justice, it was no answer to say that they were
recommendd by the town councils. The minority, on the
choice, had a perfect right to say to the Crown, it is true we j
are in the minority, and though it is right that we should be I
represented in Parliament by men of different politics from
ourselves, yet it is no reason why we should be handed over,
in the administration of justice, to an exclusively political bench. j
And it was also the interest of the Crown to interfere and se- ;
cute proper men for the bench, rather than, in order to pay a j
deference to popular principles, to take the recommendations of
men after a heated contest, when violent dissensions were
sure to prevail. If they took the great ports of Bristol,
Hull, Yarmouth, and Portsmouth, they would find
that in Hull the proportion was .18 to 3, in Yarmouth I
18 to 1, and in Portsmouth 18 to nothing!— (Cheers. )
There were 68 Magistrates, 58 of one opinion, and 10 of
another.—( Hear, hear.) Now looking at the list, be would
take some of the counties. Ile would refer to the county of
Durham ; in that county there were three corporations—Sun-
derland, Stockton, arid Gateshead ; and in those three corpora-
tions there were 19 Magistrates, 18 of whom were of one
opinion, and one of another. Now, he would take Chester ; in
that county, there were four corporations, and in all those four
corporations there was not one Conservative Magistrate.—
( Hear, hear.) In Coiigleton there were five Magistrates, all
of the same opinion. In Macclesford there were six ;Magis-
trates, all of the same opinion. In Stockport there were twelve
Magistrates, all of the same opinion.—( Hear, hear.) Ho
would now turn to the boroughs, and, looking at the list
that was now before him, would take the towns under
the letters C and D. He there found six boroughs in succes-
sion following each ether, Coventry, Dartmouth, Deal, Den- I
high, Derby, and Devizes; those towns returned Members to
Parliament ; they were subject to excitement which other
towns were not ; in tho.e towns party feeling ran high, and the
blues and the yellows spent their time in abusing each other.—
(Laughter.) If the corporation got the majority they were all
purity, and those to whom they were opposed were marked
men. In this .manner the sources of justice were bound hand
and foot by the recommendations of the town councils. In
Coventry there were twelve Magistrates, all of the same opinion.
In Dartmouth there were six, all of the same opinion. In Deal
tour, all of the same opinion. In Denbigh four, all
of the same opinion. In Derby eight, all of the
same opinion. In Devizes ten ; and here, he was happy to say,
there was a little distinction, for there was one Conservative ;
so that in those six towns, all of them returning Members tii
Parliament, turn by the dissensiens of party, there were forty-
four
municipal Magistrates administering justice, and out of
that number forty-three were of one opinion, and one of I
another. He would now come to the smaller boroughs, and it was
very likely that the smaller the circle the more bitter was the
animosity. Bridport, Hyde, Kendal,
,Maldon, Pomtret,
Tiverton, Totnes, and Truro. In those eight small boroughs
there were thirty-one Magistrates, all of the came opinion.
Not one single Conservative to break the uniformity.—
(Laughter.) Need he go any further—need he say that the
Government that attempted to redress those glaring dispropor-
tions was not justifying itself by the evil conduct of its
predecessors, but was taing a course which all Governments
ought to take that bad the interests of their country at heart ?
If they had pur ued such a course for political purposes they
would be wrong, but such was not the case. Now what, he
would ask, was the total result ?—those that he had referred to
were ineividual cases. Why his Hon. Friend found that out
of 1,026 Magistrate s, there were 745 of one opinion and 226 of
another. But then it was said that the town councils had re-
commended
them. It was unfair to say that the town councils
were tainted with political opinion ; but if they were conscious
that they were so far tainted, that they would recommend
men of the same opinion as themselves, then the Ministry
had a right to claim that the injustice should
lie removed.—(llear, hear, hear.) He had heat d it
said that almost all men with 500/. a-year were Conservatives.
Now, he could not maintain such a doctrine ; but he would say,
that any system of judicial selection, whether popular or not,
which gave a proportion of 226 Conservatives to to 745 Libe-
rals, was a defective system ; but it was said that his Right
Hon. Friend had attempted to abuse the power he possessed,
by swamping the existing Magistrates. He would fearlessly
assert that be had done no such thing, for so farfroin his Right
Hon. Friend having abused the power his office conferred upon
him, by transferring judicial power to the hands of the Con-
servatives, he had left the balance in the hands he found it.
He had left the municipal Magistrates of Liberal principles
in the majority—there were still 745 of them ; but
he had increased the number of Conservatives to 629.
—(Hear, hear.) But the Honourable Gentleman, the
Member for Finsbury had said that they were setting a terrible ,
example ; that when the Radicals came into power they would
follow that example. He (Sir Robert Peel) hoped that they
would, and that. they would also show equal moderation.—
( Hear.) He hoped their object would be not to gain as-
cendancy or power, but to put an end to an unequal balance.
If the lion. Gentleman speaking for the Radical party, would
engage, on coming into power, to follow that precedent, he
(Sir 11. Peel) would not fear the consequences, because, con-
tenting himself with redressing any partial inequalities which ;
might exist, he would then leave the power on the average in
the hands in which he he had found it. He was not its the
least degree apprehensive as to the opinion the public
would form of those appoit.tments.—( Hear, hear, and cheers. )
The Honourable Gentleman fairly admitted that, with
respect to the character of the persons appointed, he had
not a single complaint to make. The for.. Gentleman, of
course, could only speak from his personal knowledge of the
parties ; but as far as his personal knowledge extended, the !
Hon. Gentleman said the men appointed were ser%iceable ad-
ditions
to the Magistracy, and perfectly qualified in every re-
spect.—(
Hear, hear.) All that disturbed the Hon. Gentle- ;
man, was that Dr. Alderson had been put at the head of the
Magistracy, in the town which he represented in that House.
But if the [lon. Gentleman had had some s'eepless nights on
account of that undue preference, he would relieve him al(oge-
ther from future anxiety, by assuring him that Dr. Alderson
was indebted for this enviable preference to the accidental cir-
cumstance that his name began with the letter A.—
(Laughter.) If the Hon. Gentleman would turn to the paper
en Kingston-upon-Hull, he would find Dr. Alderson at
the head of the list, Mr. Bartlett second, and Mr.
Crudle third. Now, the Right Honourable Gentleman, the
Member for Northampton stated that he too had nothing to
allege against the recent eppointments on the ground of cha-
racter.—(Hear, hear.) He said the parties were highly re-
spectable. They naturally enough tried their hands upon the
capture of an effigy before proceeding to graver business
(Laughter.) All that the Hon. Gentleman had to charge
against these Magistrates was, that apprehending a serious riot,
such as had taken place in other towns, they exhibited a little
more anxiety than the occasion called for ; " and I think"
( said the Right Hon. Baronet, addressing the lion. Member for
Northampton) " I think they did succeea, did they not, in
rescuing this effigy from the hands of the mob ?" Now he
must say that it the Magistrates who had been recently ap-
pointed deserved the character which had been given to them,
that went far to vindicate his Right Hon. Friend from the
imputation of partiality in making his selection. He
begged that it might he distinctly understood upon
what grsund the defence rested. He did not place
the vindication of their conduct upon the shabby plea
that their opponents had done something worse. They had the
admission of a warm partisan that the windows of their oppo-
nents had been completely broken. What they had attempted
was to repair the damage which had been done ; they utterly
denied that their windows,—larger, more spacious, and hand-
some, had sustained any similar damage.—( Laughter. ) They
had only attempted to repair the breaches which had
been made. They rested the vindication of these addi-
tions to the Magistracy upon this ground, that there
had been so great a preponderance of persons holding one
class of political opinions that, although they might be honest,
although they might be just, yet that there was a natural im-
pression upon the minds of those who were to have justice ad-
ministered to them, that party would influence the magiste-
rial decisions. They found in certain communities men ex-
clusively of one class of political opinions. They had in no
case, or in rare instances, given a preponderance to opposite opi-
nions. The course which they had taken was not to favour
political partisanship, but to repress inequality. For this pur-
pose they had selected men of opposite opinions, who were emi-
nently fitted and in themselves ornaments to the Bench
which they occupied.—( Cheers. )
Lord J. RUSSELL said he quite admitted that it would not
be right for the House to interfere with the prerogative of the
Crown on this occasion; but he did think it right to ask for
explanation of what had been done. Now he would first state
briefly what was the fact, and secondly, the principle
upon which the Right Honourable Gentleman defended
what had been done. There had been a Magistracy, as far
as they knew, sufficient in number to administer justice in the
boroughs, and those who most criticised their appointment on
political grounds admitted the respectability of their characters.
Immediately after the change of Administration 400 new Ma-
gistrates were appointed. Was not that of itself a most extra-
ordinary feet ? Did it not require explanation why there had
been this addition to a Magistracy which, as far as they were
acqnainted with it, and as far as Lord Normanby, who then
held the office of Secretary of State for the Home Department,
was acquainted with it, was sufficient for the performance of its
duties. The Right Hon. Gentleman, the First Lord of the
Treasury, felt that it was necessary to make sonic
explanation of this t roceeding. The Right Hon. Gentle-
man the Secretary of State for the Home Department explained
it by refreshing his memory with the date of 1836, and repro-
ducing the charges which were then made and satisfactorily re-
futed, only with the addition that John Frost had been since
convicted of treason, he (Lord John Russell) having taken
what he thought sufficient pains to inform himself on the sub-
ject ; having the recommendation from a large body of his
townsmen ; and being informed by the Lord Lieutenant that
the appointment was a proper one.—(Hear, hear.) But the
Right lion. Gentleman took larger ground, and one which in-
volved a dangerous principle with regard to the appointment of
municipal Magistrates. The Right Hon. Gentleman said there
was no security that the Magistrates would inspire confidence,
because a great majority of them, about 740 to 2,20, were of
one political party. He stated that in certain towns nearly all,
and in others all, the Magistrates were of one party, and that
that was ii.consistent with the due administration of justice.
Now if that principle were taken in its fullest extent, it would
go very far indeed. Let them inquire what had been the re-
commendations, and what the political opinions of the county
Magistrates.—( Hear.) What was the state of things when
the Whig Ministry came into office in 1830, when through many
years of power, through many years of Tory Lord Chancellors
and Tory Lord Lieutenants, there had been great partiality in
the selection of the Magistrates ? He would venture to say
that if Lord Grey had ordered an examination of the facts he
would have found, not 740 to 220, but 1,000 to 100
as the proportion of county Magistrates.—(Hear, hear.)
Would it then have been right for the Government of that
dey to say, that it was impossible that justice could be duly arid
fairly administered ; that the people could have no confidence
in the Magistracy, and that there should be appointed some 700
or 800 Magistrates of Liberal opinions to form a balance of
political feeling, in order to the fair administration of justice ?
Was that the principle on which the appointments to the
judicial office ought to be made? He contended certainly not.
He contended, agreeing with the Right Hon. Gentleman as
to what he had stated, on the necessity of taking men of politi-
cal opinions in a free country, that take them where they
plight, if they took.nieu of character and _well known integrity,

they might not inquire into their political opinions, but they
might say that if they were fit to be placed on the Bench they
would be fit to do justice to Whig, Tory, and Radical alike
On that principle it was that there had been a partial ex-
clusion with respect to the county Nlagistracy. There had
been some instances of partiality—( ar, hear)—among men
of considerable landed property. He remembered the case of
a banker of high eminence and well-known character, and who
had the confidence of all his neighbours, and when he ( Lord
J. Russell) inquired of the Lord Lieutenant why he had not
been appointed to the Magistracy, tie reply was, that he was
so engrossed in his banking concerns that he could not be well
appointed; and that there were several young gentlemen
of considerable landed property, who had arrived at twenty-
one years of age, and whom he (the Lord Lieutenant) had not
appointed. When such partiality was exhibited, could Hon.
Gentlemen opposite taunt the Members of the late Govern-
ment with partiality? Could the late Government declare
that Magistrates were unfit to be trusted because they held
Tory opinions? If they did so they would have betrayed their
duty to the interest of the Crown. Yet what was the effect
of the Right Hon. Gentleman's declaration, that there was
no security—no confidence in the administration of justice,
be cause the majority of the Magistrates were Liberals?
Why he, ( Lord John Russell) said that however Liberal
they might be, being respectable men, full confidence
must be reposed in their administration of justice. The Right
Hon. Gentleman had very properly abandoned the ground of
naming Mag strates for the licensing of public-houses. • He
had not attempted to support that opinion, which had been, he
trusted, erroneously attributed to the Lord Chancellor. What
security, then, as far as the administration of justice was con-
cerned, was there to be found in the constitution of the Magis-
tracy by the Sec etary of State for the Home Department?
Let the in push that principle further, and it affected the
Judicial Bench itself. When the late Government was in office
a gentleman was recommended to the Crown who held the office
of Solicitor-General—the present Baron Rolfe. Since the
Right Hon. Gentleman had come into office, he had recom-
mended a gentleman to the Crown--Justice Cresswell. No
one at either side of the House had found fault with either of
those appointments. Yet those gentlemen were decided poli-
ticians in that House, and took opposite sides, arguing some-
times with vehemence in favour of their opinions ; and if
every Judge on the Bench were such as Baron
Rolle, the Tories might have the greatest confidence in
the administration of justice ; and if every Judge had the cha-
racter of Justice Cresswell, It' higs and Radicals might feel
equal confidence. But if they took the opinion of the Right
lion. Gentleman as given that night, there was no security to
he felt in the administration of justice, and they must have an
equal balance of the Judges on the Bench, half Whigs and
`half Tories in the Queen's Bench and Common Pleas, and he
supposed a few Radicals in the Court of Exchequer.—
( Hear, hear, hear.) The Right Honourable Gentleman
found fault with the principles accerding to which
he (Lord J. Russell) had acted, and which he had stated in a
circular issued in the October after the passing of the Muni-
cipal Corporation Bill. That circular stated that the recom-
mendation of the town councils would have due weight with
the Government in the appointment of Magistrates, lie had
not said that all those who were recommended would be ap-
pointed. If the Right Hon. Gentleman followed up his opinions
he was bound to take away that right which the corporation of
the City of London possessed ; for in that city tl.e Magistrates
were popularly elected. In Scotland, ton, the appo.niment of
Magistrates is direr,' ed by the popular voice. In Scotland the
great majority of the people and the town councils were of one
Political opinion. The Right Hon. Gentleman considered
that that popular origin and sanction of the Magistrates was
not to be confirmed. He (Lord J. Russell) entirely disagreed
with him. He did not know but it was the better way, as it
was in Scotland, to give the direct nomination to the towns
themselves; but of this he was sure, that if the flight flout.
Gentleman was prepared to set the principle at defiance, he
must go further, and set at defiance the ancient privileges of
the law of England, which now subsisted in the Corporation of
London, and in the kingdom of Scotland. He (Lord John
Russell) bait proceeded on the recommendations of the town
councils. There were, indeed, certain cases in which, as the
Noble Lord had said, he had not so proceeded.—( Hear.)
It appeared to him that there were some cases in which,
if there had been excluded persons of what were called
Conservative opinions, bad feelings must have been cre-
ated in these towns.— (Hear, hear.) The Right Hon.
Gentleman had mentioned Manchester, Liverpool, Birming-
ham, and Leeds, arid he had said that there was not more than
20 persons of Conservative opinions among the Magistrates of
those towns. He (Lord J. Russell) believed that the town
councils had recommended but two or three out of these 20,
and that the rest sere appointed at his recommendation.
He had not attempted to make a balance of political opinions
in those towns, but he had thought that a total exclusion would
have been unjust. The Secretary of State for the Home
Department, in adverting to his (Lord J. Russell's) conduct
with respect to Liverpool, had carefully omitted that circum-
stance. There were circumstances mentioned to-night, which
at that late hour he would not detain the House by
giving ; reference had been made to the borough of
Guildford, where he had riot taken the recommendation of the
town council, and the result of his advice was, the giving of a
more liberal complexion to the body of the Magistracy than
that which had been givers by the recommendation of the
council. At the same time, with regard to those opinions, he al-
ways found that if they attempted to come to any nice distinctions
as to what people's political opinions were, they would find
great difficulty. With regard to the statements made respecting
Guildford, the Right Hon. Gentleman said that the Liberals
were three to one. The Hon. Member fur Guildford (Capt.
Mangles) had said that two of the Magistrates
were of one political opinion, and two of another.
In Bristol there were two or three- Magistrates who had
been set down as belonging to the Liberal party, and who
had yet never voted for the Liberal candidate there. So it
had been stated by the Hon. Member for that city. Thus
much, then, for the striking of balances in political opinions.
In Exeter a gentleman, who, it was said, was of Con-
servative principles, was nominated by the town
council, because they considered him a decided Whig,
Such then, were the differences with which they must deal,
if they were to arrange all the Magistrates, so as to have
a particular numher of one political opinion and the remainder
of the contrary. It would be far the better way to make no such
dis inctions at all. If the doctrine of the Right Hon. Gentle-
man, that there was no reason for confidence in a body belong-
ing to a particular class, were taken up at one side, it would lie
taken up at the other side als ). If they declared from that place
that a person who held Conservative opinions was alone to be
tru-tal in the administration of justice, they would have
every man of Liberal opinions in the country declaring
his want of confidence in Magistrates of Conservative
opinions. They would be thus introducing a new prin-
ciple, and one injuring altogether the administration of justice.
He did not deny that the town councils had recommended a
preponderance' of persons of his ( Lord John Russell's) political
opinions.—( Hear, hear.) He supposed that the majority in the
town councils held those opinions, and that, therefore, they re-
commended those in whom they had confidence, and whom they
they had been accustomed to follow, in preference to those in
whom they had no confidence.—( Cheers.) If the opinions of
the towns should change, the opinions of the town councils
would change also ; and that, whenever a vacancy in the Ma-
gistracy should occur, there would be a recommendation of
persons of other politics ; but, in the mean time, he thought it
would not tend to the purity of the administration of justice,
that it should be proclaimed that one man had been elevated
to the bench because he was a Liberal, and another because
he was a Conservative.—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gen-
tleman had alluded to a letter which he had stated had
been written by Mr. Coppock to a gentleman named Bur-
roughs. He (Lord John Russell) was not acquainted either
with Mr. Coppock or with his correspondent.—( Hear, hear.)
He did not know to whom it was that that letter was addressed;
but with regard to one portion of the information sought to be
obtained by that letter, that relating to the employment of the
persons nominated, the inquiry was perfectly unnecessary, be-
cause an official letter was always written by the Under-Secre-
tary, by command of the Home Secretary, to the town councils,
desiring them to state what were the different employments of
the persons recommended ; therefore, as far as that. part of the
letter was concerned, it was unnecessary.—( ['ear, hear. )
He thought that the Right Hon. Gentleman himself could not
attach importance to what he had said on that part of the
subject, but that he must have brought it forward merely as a
Make. weight.—( Loud cheers.) An Honourable Gentleman,
he thought it was the Hon. Member for Durham, had said, in
the course of the debate, that he (Lord J. Russell) had changed
his politics within the course of the last 20 years.—(llear.)
He ( Lord J. Russell) was not conscious of having made any such
change.—( Cheers.) Of this lie was certain, that he had been
at least as consistent as the Secretary of State for the
Home Department.—( Vehement cheering ) Twenty years
ago be had brought forward the question of Reform in
Parliament; but, on that occasion he had stated dis-
tinctly that he • did not think it would remedy the existing
distress, but that it was necessary as an act of justice.--
(Cheers.) He was then a moderate Reformer, and a Whig
—(Cheers)—and he still remained nothing move than a mo-
derate Reformer and a Whig.—(Cheers from both sides of
the House.) If he had ever deserted that moderate line of
conduct, the only time he lead ever done so was in the
year 1830, when the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State
tor the Horne Department used to bring in motions asking for the
production of the lista of Privy Councillors.—( Cheers. ) He
would own he was induced by the eloquent denunciations of
the Right Hon. Gentleman against what he then called the
birds of prey—(Loud cheering)—to give him his support.—
(Continued cheering.) The Right Hon. Gentleman com-
prised in his sweeping denunciations all persons holding au-
thority, whatever might be their station in the Privy Council—
' ( Renewed cheering)—not recollecting that those denunciations
affected persons not only of political consciences, but of eccle-
siastical and judicial consciences also. Loud cheers.) In
voting fur that motion, he (Lord J. Russell) gave a counte-
nance to extreme Radical opinions—( Cheers and laughter)—
which formed a cos trast with his conduct during the rest of
his life. tae certainly regretted that part of his conduct, and
he thoughtthat the Right Hon. Gentleman himself regretted the
course he had pursued.--( Hear, hear.) Those against whom
he ( Sir James Graham) had then uttered those fierce denuncia-
tions, were now his own friends and colleagues, and supporters.
' (Loud cheers.) And that party which the Right Hon.
Gentleman had then described as steeped in corruption—
( Cheers)—unfaithful to their trusts—(Loud cheers)—unfit to
govern the country—(Renewed cheering)—from the absence
of all public virtues—(Continued cheering)—was the very
party to favour which he had appointed 400 Magistrates.—
( Long and long continued cheering.) When the lion. Mem-
ber for Durham charged him (Lord J. Russell) with having,
during the course of the last twenty years, given some votes of
which he must repent, as having too much of a democratic
tendency, he supposed the Hon. Member must allude to the
votes which he (Lord John Russell) • had given
in support of those motions.—( Hear, hear.) He
confessed he did regret the votes which he had given on those
occasions, but, as his sin had not been so great, so his repent-
ance need not be of so deep a nature—( Loud cheers. )—nor
would lie have to make so full a recantation as that of the
Right Hon. Gentleman.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. W. WILLIAMS was surprised at the attacks which had
been made on the Magistrates of Coventry by the lion. Mem-
ber for Warwick. That Hon. Gentleman had no knowledge
either of Coventry or the Magistrates there, and he considered
the Hon. Gentleman's remarks uncalled for and unfounded.
He denied that the Magistrates of Coventry had refused any
licenses to persons keeping public-houses, merely because they
were Conservatives. In every case in which licenses bast been
refused, the Magistrates had had good and sufficient reasons for
such refusal. They were incapable of the conduct
with which they had been charged by the Hon. Gentleman.
The Magistrates of Coventry were men of the highest respec-
tability, and would not be actuated by party feeling in their
conduct as Magistrates. The Hon. Gentleman had stated
that at the last election all the Magistrates of Coventry had
voted for him (Mr. W. ; he hoped that information
was correct, for it would he a great gratification to him (Mr.
W. Williams) to find that those gentlemen liked him better
en further acquaintance then they had done at first—for at the
former election, which had taken place just before their nomi-
nation to the Magistracy by the Noble Lord, some of those
gentlemen, so far from supporting him (Mr. W.
Williams) had been among his most active opponents.
Politics mingled very little with the proceedings of the Muni-
cipal Council of Coventry; and there was no desire shown that
the management of the affairs of the town should be entrusted
exclusively to one party.
Mr. COLLINS denied that any partiality had been shown
by the Magistracy of the borough of Warwick, which he had
the honour to represent, in the licensing of' public houses or
upon any other subject. He could bear his testimony that
, more honourable men did not exist. _

Mr. J. \V• WOOD repelled any imputations against. Ma-
gistracy of the borough of Kendal: whicii he had the honour to
represent. . _

Lord WORSLEY stated his opinion, and the opinion, he
believed, of many others, that it was desirable that a change
should be made in the manner of appointing the county Magis-
tracy. He believed greater satisfaction would be felt if yeomen
and gentlemen, living on their own property, although not of
large estates, were placed on the list of Magistrates ; and he
felt assured that such appointments would give more satisfac-
tion than the appointments of clergymen, who had other duties
to discharge. This was a subject which was much talked
of out of the House, and he thought it was his duty to tell the
House what he knew of the matter.

Mr. STRUTT said, that the Hon. Gentleman opposite
having referred to Derby. he thought it right to say a few
wores relative to that borough. The Hon. Gentleman stated,
that the whole eight Magistrates of Derby, were of Liberal
principles ; that he (Mr. Strutt) must most distinctly deny,
inasmuch as there was one at least, whom he posi-
tively knew to be of strong Tory principles. The
majority of Magistrates in that borough were certainly
Liberals, but that was to be accounted for by the fact of the
great majority of the inhabitants being Liberals ; the Magis-
trates possessed the confidence of the public—( Hear, hear)—
and for that reason only he believed they were appointed.
And never had he heard trotn any person of any political creed,
the slightest complaint of the administration of justice in that
borough. The Right Hon. Gentleman had thought it neces-
sary to add five new names to those eight, and they were all
Conservatives. He had not the slightest charge to make against
their character; on the contrary, he was ready to bear his
individual testimony to their great respectability. But whereas,
it hart been usual to select gentlemen from the town, the Right
Hon. Gentleman, unable, he (Mr. Strutt) supposed, to find
men of worth in the town, had taken two from the county, who
did not possess either the municipal or parliamentary franchise.
--( Hear, hear.) Another of those five was a man of great re-
spectability, and well known to him (Mr. Strutt), who held
the situation of Postmaster in the town. He did not think that
that was exactly the office which a Magistrate ought to hold—
( Hear hear)—and he must say en the whole that these ap-
pointments had given the greatest dissatisfaction to the whole
place.—(l-fear.)
Sir JAMES GRAHAM said he believed that seven miles
from the borough was the limit within which a man might
live not to be disqualified from voting ; he should feel obliged
to the Hon. Gentleman if he would state how far from the
town the two gentlemen to whom he referred resided?
Mr. STRUTT said, he did not say that they were disquali-
fied. They lived two or three miles from the town, and had
r.o connexion with the town.—(oh, oh.) All he said was,
that they possessed neither the municipal nor the parliamentary
franchise.—( Hear.)
Mr. COLVILE said, if the Right Hon. Baronet had looked
over the whole town of Derby he could not have found men
who would better have done their duty that% those he had ap-
pointed.—( Hear, hear.)
Captain LAY ARD said he wished to know what the Right
Hon. Baronet had done for the benefit of Southampton with
regard to the appointment of new 'Magistrates there? The
town council in that borough were almost all Tories, and there
were seven Magistrates. One of these died, and a deputation,
consisting of some of the most respectable Liberals in the
place, waited upon-the Noble Lord the Member for London,
and requested that his Lordship would fill up the vacancy by
appointing a Liberal. His Lordship replied, that he must be
guided by the town council, and, in consequence, a Tory was
appointed. He wished the 'fortes would act in the same way.
Mr. HUTT said, that he could not altogether disregard the
observations of the Right Hon. Baronet, Who imputed to him
that he came fresh from the atmosphere of an Election Commit-
tee. Such language was certainly most decent and gentlemanly—
The SPEAKER called the Hon Member to order.

Mr. HUTT explained that he used the word gen-
tlemanly, and not ungentlemanly, as Honourable Mem-
bers and Mr. Speaker seemed to imagine. He could
scarcely believe the Right Honourable Baronet intended
what his words might convey ; but if he did, he did not envy
him his feelings, and he thanked God he did not possess them.
—( Hear, hear.) A great deal had been said of the trifling
nature of his motion, but he thought the Honour-
able and Gallant Member for Durham (Capt. Fitzroy) treated
himtwith ingratitude, because he gave him an opportunity
of making a speech, and of saying a grear deal of himself and
his Noble Relative, and other matters to which he was fond of
referring.—(" Oh, oh.") But when he did him (Mr. Hutt)
the honour of taking down his words, he hoped he would do so
correctly, which would spare himself a great deal of indignation,
and him (Mr. Hutt) the trouble of contradicting him. With
regard to the motion before the House, he was gad the Right
Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government did not
adopt the same line of defence as the Right Hon. Baronet,
the Secretary for the Home Department.—(Hear.) The de-
fence which he made was, that others had done wrong, and on
these grounds he justified his own conduct. He should like
to know if the increase which the Right Hon. Baronet
had made in the Magistracy was the result of any com-
plaints as to the insufficiency of the number who
had discharged the duties ? Be had alluded to Hull a
great deal, but he (Mr. H.) and the people of that place well
remembered the Radical doctrines of the Right Hon. Baronet
in that place, and he also recollected that the people there
were not very well satisfied with him because he did not go so
far as the Right Hon. Baronet, and therefore was not fit to be
their representative.—( Cheers and laughter. )
Sir J. GRAHAM—In what year was that ?

HUTT—In the year 1831.
The motion was then agreed to.
POOR LAWS.

Captain PECHELL presented a petition from Mr. Brooker,
stating that his character had been aspersed with respect to
statements of his regarding the Eastbourne Union, and praying
that the House would investigate the statements (as we
understood. )
On the question that the petition be laid on the table,
Mr. BROTHERTON moved that the House do new
adjourn.
After a few words from Mr. DARBY,
Mr. BROTHERTON said he would withdraw his motion
for adjournment, if the debate on the question to which the
petition referred were adjourned.
The SPEAKER having given his opinion that the petition
reflected upon a Member of the House, and could not be re-
ceived, . .

Captain PECHELL withdrew the petition, and moved for a
return according to his notice of the number, names, an I ales
of all persons committed to any prison in England or Wales for
any offence in a union workhouse established under the provi-
sions of the Po)r-law Amendment Act, stating the nature of
the offence, the period of punishment, the name of the union,
and the number of each union, and for each year, from the
25th day of March, 1835 to the 25th day of March, 1842, with
the population of each union, according to the last census. Si-
milar return for offences in workhouses of parishes and unions
governed by guardians, vestrymen, or parish officers,
under local Acts, and 22 Geo. 3, c. 83, known as
Gilbert's Act, or not included in any. Poor-law union.
The lion. and Gallant Member then went into a statement to
show that a very large number of able-bodied men had been
committed to prison for having run away from union work-
houses. He thought this motion was a very good prelude to
the Right Hon. Baronet's motion for a law to suppress such
unions as " Gilbert's," in none of which had-there been an in-
stance of an able-bodied man being sent to prison for
running away.
Mr•. DARBY said he thought it was very unfair for the
Hon. and Gallant Member to mix up the management of any
particular union with the question of the Poor-law. Many
allegations had been made against the guardians of this union,
and the whole of those allegations they denied. The charge of
the Hon. and Gallant Member was one of constructive murder,
which was a most tremendous charge. The matron and the
.guardians took care to go round the workhouse once every
week. The lion. and Gallant Member ought not to have
made his charges unless he had given them notice of his inten-
tion. It was a very extraordinary tact that Booker was not
heard of until he had a communication with Smith.

Capt. PECHELL said he had considered it his duty to pre-
sent the petition. It was a charge of moral and constructive
murder, and all he wanted was an inquiry.
The return was agreed to.
POOR-LAWS.

Sir J. GRAHAM said, in consequence of the lateness of
the hour, he should postpone the motion of which he had given
notice, for leave to bring in a Bill to continue the Poor-law
Commission, till Tuesday next.
The Dublin Police Bill, the Punishment of Death (Ireland)
Bill, and the Victoria Park Bill, were read a third time and
passed ; the British Possessions Abroad Bill was read a second
time, and ordered to be committed; the Knightsbridge and
Kensington Opening. Bill was read a third time and passed.
NEW WRIT.

Mr. GODSON moved that a new writ be issued for the
borough of Nottingham, in the room of Sir G. De Larpent.
Mr. BROTHER:I'ON moved that the House do adjourn.
Mr. WARD seconded the motion. As there was a
motion on the paper for to-morrow on this subject, he
was surprised that a new writ should have been moved kr
under the present circumstances.
The SPEARER put the question, which being carried, the
House adjourned at One o'clock.

PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION.
(From the Votes and Proceedings qf the House of Commons.)
WEDNESDAY, MAY 4.

CHURCH PATRONAGE. ( SCOTLAND) BILL.
Order for Second Reading road ; Motion made, and Ques-
tion proposed, " That the Bill be read a second time upon
Wednesday the 15th day of June next :"—Amendment pro-
posed, aftor the word " be," to insert the word novr,' and to
leave out the words " upon Wednesdty the 15th of June next :"
—Tuestion put, " That the word ' now' be there inserted:"—
The House divided :
Acheson, Viscount
Bannerman, A.
Barnard. E. (..i.
Berkeley. C.
Dristhertoa, J.
CoWen„ Richard
Colcbrooke, Sir T. E.
coivoer, Hon W.
Craig, W. Gibson
Dalrymple, Captain
Dawson, lion. T. V.
Duff, James
Duncan, George
Ellice, E.
Evans, William
Ferguson, t. olonel
k itzroy, Lord C.

NORITY-AYES,
Gore, Robert
Hastie, A.
flay, bir A. L.
Hill, Lord Marco.,.
Howard„E 0.
ki,Taggsrt, John -
Marjoribanks, S.
Morris, David
Morrison, James
Muntz, G. F.
Murray, A.
O'Connell, kr J.
Oswald, James
Pechell, Captain
Philips, Mark
Powell, Caleb
Rawdon, J. D.

48.
Rieardo, John Lewis
Rundle, John
Rutherturd, A
Scholefield, J.
P

Somerville. Sir W.
Stuart, Lord J.
Tancmi, H. W.
Thotnely, Thomas
Traill. George
Vivian Hon. Captai
Wallace, It.
Wawn, John T.
Wcutenra, H. It.
TELLERS.
Manic, Hon Fox
Stt.wart, P. M.