Star.
London, England, 1822-04-26 00:00:00

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thought there should aiways be between the eonsti,;
tuent and representative—the closest interest and the
strongest sympathy—(A laugh). But they had no op..
pot.tunity of gaining information on this point. The
Members for Buckingham appeared in that House,
bat he could only consider them as persons disguised
as representatives of the people, not being bona fide
such. Such were the ways Ministers were obliged
to resort to, and he considered it as an argument in
favour of Reform: But there was one point in favour
of his argument tb be derived from authority, on
which he had not touched. The great Lord Clam.
don had declared that a Reform in the represents.
tion was worthy of being adopted in better times;
Mr. Locke had given the tattle opinion with reference
to Old Sarum, and other places, and the sentiments.
of Blackstone, Chatham, Pitt, and Fox, in favour of
Reform, he need not repeat. Thus they hid a sin-
gular combination in favour of Reform. There wds
Lord Clarendon, the revered Tory statesman ; Mr,
Locke, the most liberal of Whig philosophers ;
stone, the most universally admired constituti(;nal
lawyer; Lord Chatham, the boldest practical Nliki
ter; Mr. Pitt, the head of a most enthusiastic (.arty
in his favour ; and Mr. Fox, an equal object if ,tf.,
fection, and esteem to another—(hear, hear, hcfn.).—
This union of talent conveyed to his mind that cz,ni.
dente, which experience only could give witln,..t it.
In England such an union of her first and best sfootd
be looked to as a precedent. in his mind it took
away all the raggedness of innovation from the men.
sures which they recommended. On the other side,
they had only Burke and Wyndham. lle did rot
wish to disparage them, but he did not feel disio.ed
to give equal weight to their opinions, as to those he
had cited. Having, therefore, thus described what
he considered as the improved state of the co.tit:t y in
point of wealth and learning, and stated ti,e
chief arising from the difference between the • ;.m., of
the country and that Home, it remained for him to
explain the plan which might convey souse remedy.
The plans of Lord Chatham and Mt. Pitt had been
to add 100 Members to the numbers of the I !oust:,
and Mr. Burke had fallen into the same pi in, owing
the votes to a certain number of householders; and
Mr. Fox said it was the best outing:: of a pi t:. that
could be framed. He (Lord Julia Russell coin-
cided in this respect with the authority of these
great persons. Ile did not wish, however, to give
the whole hundred Members to the CoLittie-, bit
proposed that the Counties should have au oddities
of sixty, and give forty to the commercial towns cf
note. There were many minor points f;:r considera-
tion which it was not necessa; y then to go intt:,—
The change must be effected with all calmt.ess aid
deliberation. But there was a difference of situatica
since the time of Lord Chatham ; for since that tint:
a hundred members had been added to the House.
In order therefore to carry his plan into effect, he
proposed to take away 100 from the smallest bo-
roughs, to make room for the further addition of
100 for the counties and great towns. He had
thought it would be *possible to accomplish the de-
sirable object of Reform by convicting the boroughs
of corruption, which was notorious, and giving the
elective franchise to more populous places. Had he
met with the co-operation of the House in pursuance
of the system he had last Session intodu,:ed,
object would in time have been effected. But b
had not been adequately seconded by the flouse in
his efforts, and he was sorry to say ti.e House dd
not appear to be sincere in a desire to put down
corruption. They acted as though a police magistrate
should say—" It you bring a thief before me, I
commit him ; but mind, I will not send out a single
officer to assist in apprehending them, although it is
notorious that every night thieves parade the streets:
Thus it was that the House was ready to take cog-
nizance of a case of corruption brought before t!!on ;
but it required, to do justice to the cause, d .t :hey
should themselves discover and convict them. He
therefore thought th. t this plan was tl e afest .n.; best
that Parliament could. adopt. The question then be-
fore the House was, whether a Reform in Parliament
was necessary at all ? If they would giant hint that,
he hid no doubt but he should. be able to agree
with the other Reformers in the plan to be adopted.
His objection to the small Boroughs was, not that
they brought men of talent into the House, but t'iat
they formed the majority in the House, and thus, in
fact, were the means of obtaining the sanction of the
Legislature to the acts of individuals, which passel
as the measures of Government This was giving a
weight and consequence to the mere form and cere•
monial of Representation, at the expense of the real
substance of the Constitution. He could not better
illustrate this than by quoting the words of the Peet:
" Thus if you dine with my Lord Mayor,
Roast beef and venison's your fare
Thence you proceed to swan and bustard,
And persevere in tart and custard;
But tulip-leases and lemon peel
Help only to adorn the meal ;
And painted flags, superb and neat,
Proclaim you welcome to the treat.
The man of sense his meat devours,
But only smells the peel and flowers;
• And he must be an idle dreamer,
Who leaves the pie and gnaws the streamer !"

He knew it was said that these measures, however
they might excite tumult and agitation in the country
at first, when once they had passed, ceased to cal
forth opposition. But this was an unfair way ci
putting it. The people of this country were remark.
able for their adherence to all law, above all other
people—(Hear, hear)—and they knew that when tl:e
sanction of that House had once been given w
measure, the act of Government was complete, .r.la
that there was nothing left but to rebel or be silec.
But did it, therefore, follow that they approve,( ?
Did they applaud the omission of the Queen's name
from the Liturgy more after the question of restorir.g
it was negatived, than they did before? 11'hibt It
was in course of deliberation they exerted themselves,
and expressed their sentiments; but, when once de-
cided upon, they abstained from further interference.
He thought they wisely acted thus ; for be ala
not think there were any abuses in this countti
which called for actual rebellion. Of the falsetto
and danger of assuming approval in the absence
et
successful opposition, history furnished many exam-
ples. James H. succeeded in obtaining every prostik
tion of liberty till he met with resistance, and wo
forced to abdicate under the pressure of that resistance.
The same was the case with Paul, the most despotic
tyrants, ill he met with the bowstring. Fern`.nand the Seventh of Spain, went on in the same strain
• till ho was overwhelmed in rebellion. All -these ty-