Star.
London, England, 1809-05-24 00:00:00

The` 12th of May was a day that ought to bs ever
' memorable in the minds of the country, for on that
day that question was plainly at issue between the Bo-
rough-mongers and the• People. (Apyaguer.) The Bo-
rough-mongers had no doubt, had a sort of triumph—
they had escaped; and, therefore, so insolent had they
become that it was stated in one of the Newspapers,
that if the people should petition the King in favour
of Parliamentary Reform, and that his Majesty should
interpose to promote the objet of such petitions, it
was hoped the House of Commons would repel such
interposition as .unconstitutional.—What ! that the
King and the People combining for their common
interest in favour of Reform, should be considered as
a breach of the Constitution, and that the attempt of
such a combination to reform that House, which
ought to consist of the Representatives of the people,
should be repelled as an insult (applause:). It was
now evident that all which had been urged from
time to time against the system of our Representation
was correct—that the assertion contained in the cele-
brated Petition of that able and honest man, Home
Tooke, in the year 1789, was perfectly well founded.
For that assertion, namely, that seats in the House of
Commons were bought and sold like the stalls in
Smithfield, was now openly avowed. Yet how many
victims had been made to the supposed purity of
the House of Commons ? How many persons had
been prosecuted and punished for alledged libels, in
publishing that which no one now had the hardihood.
to deny. Yet after much sacrifices, after the com-
plete ruin of a poor man some time ago, he meant
Hamlyn the tinman, for attempting to tempt the
purity of a Minister by the offer of a bribe for some
party plan, the practice of bribery by all Ministers
for places of such importance as seats in the Legis-
lature was acknowledged and defended. In alluding
to the case .of Hamlyn, the Honourable Baronet
took occasion to observe, that if thera were any ele--
vation of mind, or liberality of sentiment whatever
among those who instituted that prosecution, it was
impossible that any such prosecution could have been
commenced against thAt poor ignorant man.—(Ap-
plause .) Recurring to the purchase of seats in the
House of Commons, the Honourable Baronet ob-
served, that of all the various treasons, of which he
had heard, of none could he conceive any worse than
the treasonous attacks which was so notoriously made
upon the constitution of the Legislative Bodies, but ;
particularly upon the House of Commons Such at-
tacks were not a mere ordinary species of iniquity,
but aimed a mortal blow at the vcry vital principle
of that body to which the people should peculiarly
look for redress—from which they were entitled to
expect relief from burthens and security against op-
pression—which in fact from its nature and essence
ought to protect innocence, and ensure justice—
(2ll:filauses:)
Having mentioned Parliamentary Reform so often,
he thought it necessary to make a few particular ob-
servations upon that subject. It appeared to be the
favourite object of some persons to surround the mea-
sure of Reform with difficulty, to make it look ra-
ther mysteriou•s and less practicable, than• if fairly
represented it must appear. The friends of reform
who took it up at different terms, perhaps for some
purpose of temporary expediency, for the exercise of
eloquence, or the acquisition of popularity, had so
decked and bedizened the subject—had so covered it
with ornaments—had rendered it so cumbrous—had
so embarrassed the question—had so overlaid it
with drapery and dress, that it was no wonder it
seemed so difficult to be understood and acted upon.
Thos Parliamentary Reform was, through the false
eloquence of those who were probably more anxious
to display themselves, than the measure, rendered
scarcely intelligible, owing to the extraneous matter
with which it was surrounded (applause). But in
addition to the mischief resulting from the conduct
of those who professed to support Reform, there was
On the other hand the difficulty created by the oppo-
nents of the measure. They represented it quite as
a thing of imagination, nit reducible to practice
—as an Utopian system, fit for angels only, but not
applicable to men. Thus the professed friends and
foes of the measure contrived to involve it in a sort
of intricacy and difficulty which did not -it all be-
long to it. In fact it was a quite simple question
—to be illustrated by the rule which governed man-
kind in all their dealings. According to the unani-
mous opinion of :di political writers of any reputation,
this was an indisputable principle, that the legislative,
executive, and judicial parts ofthe Constitution should
be distinct and separate. Why this was just the prin-
ciple that p.-evailed in all bargains to which there
must be two parties. The whole science of Govern-
ment was in fact simply the rule which was intelligi-
ble to the very children at school—namely, the rule
that the same person should nrt choose and divide.
That was all we required in. Government, that the
choosers should not be the dividers. (Amhzuse.) Il-
lustrating by a still more simple allusion, lie would
refer to the case of the dinner they had just partaken
of. The landlord furnished it, but as they were to
pay the bill, it was surely their right to appoint per-
sons to examine the reckoning'. Stripping Parliamen-
tary Reform of 211 the incumbrances heaped upon it by
bad taste and false eloquence ( whom still he should he
glad to find prove themselves sincere for the object),
it was the same in principle as they claimed with re-
spect to th.! dinner and the reckoning. (Applause.)
He was often astonished to hear it said in the House
of Commons, and without laughter too, by•certain
persons who were candidates fOr public offices as well
as by those who enjoyed them, that their only object
is to serve the public, and that money is no part of their
consideration. To hear such a statement gravely made
was really ludicrous, and could only be compared
to the declaration of a man who, after he had fed
heartily upon roast beef, should say that he preferred
pudding. What ! that these men, with their pockets
swelling with the money of the public, should come
forward proclaim that they care not about the pub-
lic money, and look only to serve the public. (if/i-
-t/awes and laughter.) Among these Gentleman was
Mr. Tierney, who was once deemed a Jacobin and a
zealous Reformer, but now it seems he does not think
the time proper' for proposing the measure. Indeed
this Gentleman professed to be quite shocked at the
conduct of those who were so forward to expose
" the shameful parts of the Constitution." But. yet
there was a day when no man was more forward to
expose those parts than the Honourable Gentleman
himself. Indeed, such was his rage for such exposure,
that he
would not leave a rag to cover these parts.
While those whom the Right Hon. Gentleman con-