Star.
London, England, 1822-06-25 00:00:00

in the "'ening, no matter en whote personal behalf
the application was made. The number of placernen
in Parliament had been considerably reduced h: fore
the year 1780; but the House did not, on that uc.
count, stop short when the Resolution of that day
was offered for their consideration. The Lords had
some time before the Acts limiting the number of
placemen, declared that the number of them in that
Housewas not less than between two and three huiv.
'dred ; and'yet the Iltrusehad not hesitated to resnhe
that the influence of the Crown ought to be dimi.
nished. The principle was still the same, and it
ought to be followed by the same remedy. He now
came, and with some pleasure, to the last of the an.
savers. given to the present argument. It was the
often-repeated answer respecting the right workine.
of the system." It was said, that notwithstanding all
these facts, he enjoyed as much practical liberty u
was possible, and that Parliament was as rodeo:
pendent as under all the circumstances was necessary;
But they had all witnessed the conduct of Parlia:
ment. They knew that whoever was the Minister, and
whatever he proposed, the House uniformly sup:
ported the person and the measure. He (Mr. 04
laid down the proposition as broadly as possible.—
The rule was almost without in exceptiOn. He would
sap that anybody whom the Ctown might name its
Minister, would find the support of Parliament, pro
vided he were selected from the class of persons
usually resorted to for the purpose of filling high of-
fices, and provided he offered to risk his situation on
the measure proposed. With these two qualifications
he would lay down the rule most confidently. Mr.
Pitt, when in office, was supported generally by a
majority of four to one; but it was said at that time,
that this was owing to the hereditary greatness if his
name, his own splendid talents, and his enimpeached
personal integrity. When he went out of office, he
was succeeded by one who resembled him in one
little circumstance—it was that of being Chief Mi-
nister. It was then found that this circumstance was
the greatest point in Mr. Pitts favour; indeed, the
only one which rendered him desirable. For on the
very first trial of stret;gth between him and Mr. Ad-
dington, the House of Commons was rudely put to
the test. Mr. Pitt said to them—" No more flattery;
no more songs in my favour out of doors, or tirades
in my praise within it ; come to the vote ye majority.
The question is, Addington or me?" What was the
consequence? Why, that 333 out of 400 Membe:s
r were free to confess thar they preferred Mr. Adding.
ton-.-(Cheers from the Opposition).—Everything was
•then forgotten—name, ancestry: popularity, grtti-
.tude—(Cheers)—the gratitude of his placemen and
Contractors, his Honourable Baronets, his Knights
the 'Shire, and rotten BoroLgh-holders. The men
whom he used. to feed, to command, and drag to the
vote, from the highest to the lowest, all, yea, all of
them .forsook him on the first personal question of
confidence between Mr. Addington and himself. The
name and-unenvied popularity of Mr.Addington were
found to be an overniatch fur all Mr. Pat's great qua-
lities. There were bt't.ility-six faitlifui a,tiong the
faithless ; and those soon fell down to thirty five.—
A coalition was shortly formed between Mr. Pitt.
Mr. Fox, and Lord Grenville, but Mr. Addingtca
made head against it for upwar s of a year. A
change then took place, but had hi, friends stood by
Mr. Addington he might have ..een Prime Minister
at that very moment. ft happened, however, that
while Mr. Fox was out of office phrases were bestowe2
upon him accusing him almost of actual rebt:d•on.—
it was hopeless for Mr. Fox to attem,
against the Minister ;'but in 1806 a new lig;.t brolz
in upon the House of Commons. Mr. Fox ca,i,e into
office, an event which makes the fl,,use always act
warily when it is put in mind cf that cliatige nom a
state of only being able to command a few pet sonal
and independent friends, to having as great a nume-
rical force in his majorities as Mr. Pitt and Mr. Ad-
dington. In a question touching Lord Ellenborough's
sitting in the Cabinet, and therefore involving the
pure administration of justice, Mr. Fox had a majo-
rity of 222 to 63. Atter the death of Mr. Fox the
House of Commons was in doubt about what was
going on at Court, and the first thing was to have
business in the country, and at home, to absent then.-
selves from their duty in that House. On the P2zhef
March, 1807, there was but 57 found in the minority;
but in a few days that minority swelled into a ma-
jority of 267, to declare that they would have nothing
to do with the king's late Ministers, or such men.
This was done the moment they left office. Hardly
had the House of Commons taken such an alacrity
at finding out the Ministerial changes of the times,
than the Learned and Reverend University of Oxford,
at the time of theWalcheren Expedition, &c. led them
to think it was likely tkat Lord Grenville should
come again into power. In that calculation they were
greatly out, and therefore they gave Mr. Percent
their support in the Catholic Question, which he de-
clared to be the most dangerous question that had
been ever agitated, as respected both the Church and
State. In ten years after, however, a Bill was passed
allowing Catholics to have rank in the Army and
Navy. At the commencement of the Regency, Mi-
nisters were in a majority ; but the House did as it
always would do; when it found that the Regent
would not change his Ministers, they found themselves
in a majority of one hundred, in three weeks atter
they had found themselves in a minority. His Hon.
Friend, the Member for Essex, obtained a majority
in favour of a repeal of the Malt Tax ; but the Noble
Lord threatened to resign, and in a moment he bad
against the repeal a majority of forty or fifty. He
himself got a majority for an Agricultural Cunt-
mittee, but the very next night he found a majority
against his.proposition composed of many of those
who had voted for it the evening before. This :hewed
how the independence of Parliament was sacrificed
for offices . and favours from Government, though
not amounting to places in the Government.--
It was on the ground that the conduct of Parliament
only varied by Court favour, that he had brought
this question before the House. He would be told
that the voice of the country would find, and did find
its way into that House: who denied it, as long as
there was a free Press, an uncorrupt Bench, and an
independent Bar--rbs long as their doors were open
.to the Public, and what was done by them was sent
abroad to the world? In time the public voice must
make its way into that House, but not quickly enough,
until the groans of the People and humanity, after
tweinntdyeopenrthdniertyt
andy reformedears, prod Parliamentucedthose remedies
wouldedi eswhich
anhave
• brought About in as many mouths: This was the c:ise