Star.
London, England, 1830-02-19 00:00:00

He understood that there was sheerly on the order-book a mo-
tion ror giving the right of election to the great manufacturing
towns of England which were present unrepresented. He trusted
that if that motion were carried, there would be another pro-
posed for communicating the same right to'the great manufacturing
towns of Scotland, which were in a similar predicament. But the
representation of all our large towns was es absurd in practice, and
ibrmrd such an anomaly in our constitution, that the whole system
deserved to be revised. Hon. gentlemen had talked much that
evening of assimilating the law of England and Ireland.—
' Now, with regard to Ireland, it should be recollected that
Wand already enjoyed • reformed representation, and that
ludand sis.now represented—for she has got rid of the small bo.
roughs—would form the model of an efficient reform for Ragland.
It was not, however, his duty to go into that discussion at pre.
sent : it was sufficient for him to feel now as strongly as ever
ha did, the imperative necessity of reform. He hoped,--and from
the info:option which he had recently received from different parts
of the country, he believed,--that the people of England were at
last beginning to bestir themselves, and to place sufficient confidence
iti their own powers of exertions. He understood that petitions
would be sent to the house so backed by ability and union,—.such
union as he had recently seen with pleasure exhibited at Birming.
ham,--and mixed up with so much caution and discretion, that it
would be impossible for the house not to take this important ques-
tion into its most serious consideration, with the hottest intention of
adopting such reform as was suited to the state of the country.
Sir J. SCARLETT complained of the incidental manner in
which attacks had been made upon him, when a motion relative to
his conduct would soon be before the house. Ile saw no reason
why the honourable baronet should pass such a censure on his
conduct; but as these censures had been so frequently passed in
that house, he should avail himself of the piesent opportunity of
noticing them. There was no one act of his professional life that
he could think upon with more satisfaction than the prosecutions
for which he was so generally assailed He denied rat the pro-
secutions were forced upon him, and he would shrink from no
part of the responsibility. His conduct ought not to be looked at
by a side wind. Those who valued the liberty of the press acknow-
ledged that it required correction, and he had acted upon that prin.
ciple, and unless people meant to hold up that the liberty of the press
, was to be the tyranny of the press, which no man would have the
courage to resist, or to assert the right of private character, the
prosecutions he had instituted were of a useful tendency. He
had objected to the present law because he thought the old law
sufficient ; but he acknowledged that the new law still stood on
the statute book. If nobody resisted the tyranny of the press,
no private character was safe—sice multi see remedies pail poseunt.
He had accepted office without compromising any principle, and
tith the approbation of his political friends. lie wished it to be
understood that he would not remain with anyadministration which
wished him to exercise any official duties contrary to his own opi.
nions. Something should be done to prevent the tyranny of the
Press. He would leave the Press with full liberty, and he would
give full effect to Mr. Fox's Bill, which left the Press to the pro.
tection of juries, and he would say that judges were reluctant to
bias juried upon such occasions.
Lord J. RUSSELL said, that he had known his hon. and learned
friend (the Attorney-Oentleman) for many years, and had never
known him profess any opinions but such as were favourable to the
cause of freedom. lie should therefore wait to hear his explanation
of his conduct in the recent prosecutions before he ventured to
give any opinion upon it. (Hear, hear.) He could not, how.
ever, refrain horn remarking, that there had lately appeared in the
newspapers words attributed—perhaps incorrectly—to his hon.
and learned friend, which, if they were correct, be must say could
not be looked upon without regret. It was only the other day that
he read in the newspapers words said to have been used by his hon.
and learned friend, which led him to suppose that his hon. and
learned friend objected to the public's canvassing the opinions of
judges and juries. He hoped that his honourable and learned
friend would be able to explain these words away at the proper
time. (Hear, hear.) The noble lord then proceeded to state, that in
voting with the- noble marquis upon the present occasion, he did
, so not upon the grounds upon which the noble marquis had put
it, but upon the grounds upon which he had not put it. He
voted for it pot because he thought that it was a question which
, ought to be referred to a committee of 21, but because he thought
that it was a question which ought to be referred to a committee of
the whole house. The noble lord proceeded to ridicule the idea
that the house had acted unfairly to such boroughs as it had dice.
franchised for corrupt practices, inasmuch as it was notorious that
rereices equally corrupt prevailed in every part of the century.
was no ground for applying, as a noble lord had done, the
, quotation,
"Bat veniam corvir.a.vexat censure columters."

The earlobe, who received 201. for their votes, .and then went and
swore that they had received nothing. m was done at Orampound,
could not be considered as very innocent doves. (A laugh.)
Mr. PEEL was unwilling to give his vote without accompanying
it with a few observations, lest he should be deemed to be acting dim.
raspeetfullyto the:noble marquis who bad brought the motion forward.
Bat as he disapproved both of the object which the noble marquis had
be vkw, and of the mode in which he sought to aceot it,he should
White the fairness of the noble marquis himself, by artng that he
tek.l give his most decided opposition to this bill in its very first
He certainly did not expect to have had a general discussion
that evening on the question of reform, and he thought that the
desultory speech of the hon. member for Westminster was a an&
dent proof that it was not convenient to have such a subject thus
irregularly discussed. After exciting the laughter of the louse by 1
noticing the extraordinary title to the bill., which professes to be a
bill not for preventing but for regulating abuses in elections of I
math= to serve in parliament, the right honourable secretary
peopled to observe that the speech of the bon. member for West.
abater was particularly open to the objection that there was in it
" eloquentis sails, sapsentia pantos," (a liugh) ; for though there
was in it of declamation much, of argument there was less than he
badever heard io any former speech of the hon. baronet. If be had
::ti
into the house accidentally, and without knowing the subject
of debate, he should have supposed the hon. baronet to have been
g en eloquent speech, not in favour, but in opposition to a
Whew in parliament. Be admitted that the house was improperly
asnetituted—that it contained men of the greatest talent in the country
.individuals, whose respectability in private life could not be
'questioned—members, who, to use the bon. baronet's own phrase,
were addicted to all the qualities which were calculated to raise the
character of the country, and who were equal to any others in any
port of Europe. (Hear, hear.) It was an important admission
coming from the hon. baronet, that the house assembled men of
eminence, talent, and private virtue—(Sir F. Burdett nodded as. sent)—actuated by the purest views--(Sir F. Burdett, "No, no ;")
and what rendered this admission the most extraordinary was, that
the bon. baronet concluded it by contending that the mode in
which these eminent, and able, and virtuous men were sent here,
vitiated all their good qualities, and rendered them noxious and
dangerous. (Hear, hear.) Then, when the honourable baronet
entered into a history of the constitution of the house, his ar-
gument was all in favour of the small boroughs. The honour.
able baronet was one of those individuals who would go down to
posterity as one of the most distinguished men of his day : and yet
be had told them, " When I was first returned to this house, I
was returned for a small borough, owing no obligation to the
party who returned me;" and had then proceeded to contrast his
election with that small borough with his election for a populous
county. He said, " I was a candidate for the representation of a
large county. I carried my election at a large expense;" and
yet he added, twice over, " for the honour of representing that
county I would not give twopence." Under such circumstances,
seeing that the hon. baronet valued his election for a small isemmgb
more than he did his election for a populous county,—seekag that
Mr. Pitt, whose talents the hon. busses admired to have bean NIL
didwp
dent to tender•ititu, if he had been y ohs sawiewe of
his country, had first entered P ha 'eeryd that
many other eminent men had made their ibisthrillit
in a similar manna—aiming that Mr. Fox-r *lauded him
the representation of a larp town, found refuge in small borough,
he thought that the boa. Wrmet and the house ought to weigh well
the pea dud geed effected by the existence of these small boroughs
before they involved them all in one sweeping condemnation.
(hear.) As to the motion of the noble marquis, he was quite cer-
tain that the house would never agree to it. The noble marquis
moved that the house should devolve on a committee of twenty.
one members chosen by ballot, the power of destroying all the
Boroughs which they should suppose were incapacitated, by
corruption or otherwise, from sends members. He would
never be a party to; that wholesale depreciation of the elective
franchise; and he would never give his assent even ;to the first
stage of a bill which conferred such power upon any cos.
mince. A committee so constituted might inflict great wpm'
and injustice. It might be ministerial—it might be oppdsidwa
—but be it what it might, he would anew osneept to user
1 any committee to to any secretary et
to
dna a
had forfeited its ri and to order him to give IMNIIIII.4=
Gamete of that that it had forfeited its shaft in the sem.
swelnelem. Next he objected to the noble malquis'ablon lipase paying
members of parliament. They had that nWit been estagisd la
dimming the propriety of reform ; and yet the bill whisk was M.
Glint that reform contained a proposition snaMing them lb Ir.
poopeiste to themselves 400,060 -annually--a mop modest pee-
red. mini one well sicelated to recemissed dm beam M
couddatee. The aside mega wee Dee.AMR. two
.447 is *my *seer, amid kiwi risen =se every
iseity. nrealber I doe thewbes thee be
is
a amoeba
se doable the Wee et a Weigh asuebei. Ifiew,he thwegel.
thee at the average ens paid to meth awsbee, the bane
to sit six days in week, sad the wan se IS wake,
the sum annually se Mil athebeie wail lIMIPort is 410,1110.
(11theaid ranWO) Oa daaa 01011011 gal o.ft 66
Pa* lerd tool[
mi, aid ebb
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thew a woe be
1 thethisd. poplin. Ithrippiisltheit de eitheimee, the &triples

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