Star.
London, England, 1819-07-02 00:00:00

People to be satisfied of the inutility of the exertions
• • • afe6at 13014 of Gentlemen called the Whigs, and
was desirous of cocci:icing them that nothing could
afford the Country essential relief but a Parliamen-
tary Reform. Hid 'he not done this—had he not
waited so long, it might have bee* said that he had
interfered with the Gentlemen of Opposition in
the perfosmAnce of their duties, and caused the failure
of their endeavours to check the career of Ministers,
and he might have been even accused of being the
cause of new taaes,to the amount of £3,000,000 tieing
imposed. Having acted thus, failing of success now,
he should not think that he ought to be considered
as standing in the way of any party, it early in the
next. Session he again called the attention of the
House to this all-important question. He had for-
merly submitted to the House a plan which, in his,
opinion, was neither visionary nor wild ; it was this,
that 41 persons directly paying totes should be end-
- tied to vote for the return of a Member of Podia
-
meet. ..In favour of this plan, he quoted at some
length the opinions of Mr. Justice Blackstone. At
present, he contended, the majority or that House
was improperly returned, and they vat there, know-
ing themselves to be the nominees of persons who by
law were prohibited from all interference in the elec-
tion of its Members. The-rights now claimed by those
who were accused of pursuing' wild and .visionary
schemes, were not a tenth part of those etijoyed by
their ancestors. nA would contend the country was
much more free and happy under its ancient
lawn
than it was at preseet ; and in proof of this he re-
ferred to the authority of Lord Chapcellor Fortescue,l
who described the English to live luxuriously, to be
rich, and is every respect in a most enviable state,
• compared with the people of France. The present
condition of the people of England, compared with
that of the people of France, was such, that it should
almost seem (according to persons who had recently
been in that country) that the situations of the nations
were reversed. He took a review of the present dis-
.tresses, and shewed each of the several classes to be,
calling on Parliament to afford them relief, and im-
pose additional burdens on their neighbours. The
fact was, the country was greatly over-taxed. The'
evil could only be remedied by a Reform in Podia.'
ment, for he would tell them that no economy and
retrenchment would relieve the people effectually
. without a general Reform in that House. The heavy
taxes levied were made additionally oppressive by
the expense of collection. Formerly no expense was I
created by the collection of the, revenue, and under
\ another system, he thought the people would be glad
•eo raise the taxes they had to pay, and transmit them
without expense to the Treasury. The evils at pre
soot endured were caused by a corrupt House of
Commons. He had used a common phrase—" a cor-
rupt House of Commons," but it was incorrect. The
Gentlemen who belonged to that assembly, calling
itself the House of Commons—(Cries of Order ! )
The SPEAKER here interposed. If the Honour-'
able Member thought that language was consistent
with what he considered to be the order of the House,
some apology would be due from him (the Speaker)
for having interrupted him.
Sir FRANCIS J3URDETT.—" Whatever you
think, Sir, out of order, I feel must be sc."--eThe Ho-
nourible Baronet continued : This House of Com-
mons was undoubtedly composed of Members most
faithful to their Constituents—(Hear, hear, Marl)-1
for they discharged their duty to them in an honest,
true, and °pee way, and that in the face even a
public odium (Heat, hear I) That odium, too, was
often manifested in a most unpleasant way. They
pursued, indeed, the interests of their employers, but
not of Public, for the Public did not employ them
(a laugh.) Then as to the Septennial Act, which Dr.,
Johnson had termed a far greater outrage on public
freedom, and, a more flagrant constitutional wrong,
than the Smarts ever attempted in the height of their
power, these Gentlemen had no opinion at all, or did
not express it upon real grounds. The true, legal,
and constitutional question, as to whether those who
came into Parliament represented those who sent
them only, or whether they were not the representa-
tives of the whole kingdom, and therefore might act
unfairly during seven long years, in direct opposi-.1
tion to the desires and wishes of their Constituents,
never came into competition for a moment with' the'
interest of their nominees; for any of these Gentle-
men would think himself the most dishonourable of
men, if he continued to keep his seat in opposition to
the wishes and principles of those who sent him.
And though these Gentlemen might not canvass
questions of a popular nature, yet there were mbny of
them who might be, and he believed were, brave
men, for they did not yield to the clamours of the
people (Hear, head) And why should they? They
had nothing to do with them.- But then the slightest
whisper of their principles made itself heard to them.
He contended also that the King himself was no
longer possessed of the powers and authorities be-
longing to the regal office. The prerogatives of the
Crown had been vested in it for the good of the Na-
tion at large. Their existence formed an indispen-
sable part of our Constitution; but ander the presesit
system they were exercised, not by the Sovereign,
but by those who surrounded his throne, and made
use of his authority for their own purposes. He was,
indeed, incapable of performing even that act which it
might have been thought must be left to him—the
act of choosing his own Ministers. It v?as necessary
for him to select them either from one set of borough
proprietors or another. Neither could he select one
individual of a faction and reject the rest. It was
like the situation of a country gentleman, who being
desirous of engaging a person for his steward, was
told, that in such a case the steward's brother must
be butler, and some other friend the cook. To him,
however, this appeared to be a sad necessity for a
King of England to be reduced to.. He should per-
haps hear it urged, that he was openly professing a
Tory doctrine,, and He would avow that the princi-
ples of those who were called Tories in the reign of
. Queen Anne formed the substance of his political
creed. klis belief that the Sovereign ought to have
the free and unrestrained enjoyment of his cons:
tional rights, might be stigmatised as a base and sub-
missive doctrine, and as contrary to the spirit of,
Whiggism. He had only to answer, that he had al-
ready declared-the inclination of his mind, though he
wished such party distinctions were for ever buried
to oblivion. His persuasion was, that the only means
of enabling the Crown to acquire and preserve-the
affections of the people, was to restore to it those at-

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