Star.
London, England, 1822-04-22 00:00:00

FIRLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF COM LIONS, 'APRIL CO.
1. ..7vr-AlVdt look the Chair soon after twelve o'clock.--
, sixty Members present.
•• .neU, fly .trogheda, took the oaths and his seat.
• •. 'ILI I'll NOT give notice, that nn Monday, in the
• *.ttplily, he should move certain Estimates for
u y arid .:tliscellaneous Services.
.1. Ancient Ctivemereial Statutes Repeal Rill, the Naviga-
tion .411, the Imtoartatiiin of Goods Repeal Dill, the Slave
Trine Acts Conantidation Rill, and the West India and AmeriF
can Trade Bill, were severally ordered to be read a second dew
on the £9th.
The remaining Orders of the Day having been disposed of,
the House adjourned to Monday.
COUNTY OF BEDFORD MEETING.

In pursuance of a Requisition signed by the Duke
of BEDFORD, C. F. PA Lmna, Esq. M.P. W. H. Wurr-
P.IIEAD, Esq. M.P. S. C. WHITBREAD, Esq. M.P. and
numy other individuals s t the highest respectability,
a Nice ihg of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the
County of ISFDFORD was convened, on Saturday last,
by the High Sheriff. J. P. LATOUR, Esq. in the Town
Hall, Bedford, for the purpose of taking into consi-
eeration the propriety of Petitioning for a Reform
in the Commons House of Parliament. The Hall was
crowded in every part, and female attractions were
not wanting to add to the animation of the scene.—
On the right of the hustings seats were provided for
the accommodation of the Ladies. Amongst those,
by whom they were occupied were the Marchioness of
l'AvisTocii., Lady MADELINA PALMER, the Misses
Livtus, &c. &c.

At a quarter after twelve o'clock the Duke of BED-
ronn, the Marquis of TAvisrocK, C. F. PALMER,
M.P. W. H. WHITBREAD, M.P. Mr. Plat, the son of
one of the Members for the County, Mr. FOSTER,
Mr. LIVII3S, Mr. PAYNE, and several other Gentle-
men, a-c.nde•i the hustings : they %%ere received with
loud acclamations.

The Ilrcrr SnERIFF immediately proceeded to open
the business of the day, by stating that he had felt it
to be hi.; duty. in compliance with a Requisition that
had been presented to him, to convene the present
111ectin ; anxious as he was, during his Shrievalty, to
attend to every application that might be made to
him constitutionally ai:d respectfully —( Applause).
great desire, on the present occasion,was to act
with the utmo,t impartiality ; and he hoped that every
individual who wished to address the Meeting would
be favoqred with a patient hearing, more especially
as this was an assemblage nit merely of freeholders,
but of the inhabitaias of the County at large.
The UNDER Sir ERIFF then read the Requisition and
the answei of the ti.gh Sheriff. . _

The Duke of BEDF:iItD immediately stood forward,
and was tredve. with the most ardent demonstra-
tions of affectionate respect. His Gt ace commenced
by observing, that as his name appeared first amongst
the signatures that were affixed to the Requisition,
which had just been read by the Sheriff, he felt it in-

cumbent on him to address the Meeting for the -pur-
pose of stating the reasons which indbced him to
concur in the propriety of agreeing to that Requisi-
tion, and ot proposing, for the adoption of the Gen-
tlemen present, a Petition to the Commons House ot
Parliament, in favour of a Reform in the representa-
tion ot the people. In arguing the expediency, the
wisdom, the policy, and the necessity of such a Re-
form, he must naturally advert to the circumstances
under sshich the country wa, at present placed;—cir-
cumstances of infinite difficulty and distress—circum-
stances which he conceived sere owing in a great
measure to the want of that just and due representa-
tion of the people in Parliament whivh it was the ob-
ject of that Meeting to procure. There was, unfor-
tunately, no identity between the people and the
liouie of Commons. The only identity. that existed
was between the House of Commons and the Minis-
ters of the Crown—(Applause). This was an anomaly
which it was the duty of the people to correct ; and

those whom he now had the honour of addressing
Nvere assembled to implore the House of Commons,
hi firm but respectful language, to apply that remedy
to the evil which was best calculated to meet it, namely,
a Reform in that House—(Cheers). The House of
Commons, as now constituted, represented, in fact,
znything but the people, whom it ought to repre-
sent. It represented the Executive Government, it
represented individual Peers, and Commoners, whqre-
tamed Members; but it did not represent the people.
The representation which he had described was the
only representation it presented, and certainly that
was a species of representation totally inconsistent
with the sound principles of the British Constitution.
Were the Crown of this realm to be assailed—were
the privileges of the Peerage to be attacked—ne man
would more speedily or more zealously stand for-
ward in defence of those two branches of the Consti-

tution than he would—(Applause).—They, however,
stood on firm grounds—their prerogatives and privi-
leges were nnimpaited ; but would any man assert
that the rights and privileges of the People were not
in imminent danger ?—(Cheers.)—To advocate those
rights and privileges he stood before the Meeting;
stud he did so, because he thought it was the duty of
the Peo:,le to see those rights and privileges, which
were theirs by the terms of the great Charter of Eng-
land—which were theirs by the provisions of the Bill
of Rights—which were theirs by the acknowledged
principles of the Constitution; duly enforced and
supported—(Lord ekes., ittg).—The difficulties and
• distresses under which the People were now labour-
jug, must, in a discussion of this kind, demand the
most serious attention ; and in advocating the cause
of Reform, it was necessary that he should look to
the source from whence all those evils had flowed
upon the country. Having considered the subject
maturely, he must say, that those misfortunes arose
from an imperfect Reptesentation of the People; and
until that master-evil was remedied, there was no hope,
he feared, for the salvation of the country (Applause).
On these grounds he advocated the cause of Reform,
and thu3 publicly, in compliance with the undisguised
feelings of his mind, he entreated the Meeting to pe-
tition Parliament to grant such a Reform as would
Lave the empire from impending ruin. As to the
causes of the distress under which the country now
laboured, he differed from the opinions held by many
persons whom he respected. With ieference also to
the subject of Parliamentary Reform, he had the
mist ort,ne to hold opinions which varied from the
smtiniciits of individuals whom he admired and
e:trcii,e(i. But was the misfortune, inked, his? ;
hre thougl.t the miAortune was not his, but theirs; for