Star.
London, England, 1810-06-07 00:00:00

people wl
T?icn it a

w ird was al
competent
Lord of the
this was all ._ use p in isttra
to distract the publicrittention from the 9;101,1405ta
and criminal waste of the blood, the treasere,4fod the
character of the country, in the illplaiinesi
.e4petrt.
tion to the isle of- Waicherea. He knew. Ju the
question of the Privilege of Parliament had brew at. •
ready discussed by persons of the first learning.anit
research, and he therefore felt it unnr.ceisary for him
to dwell upon it at any length. The subject of Par.
lianfentary Reform was hiso one with which every
man must ever be supposed w be acquaintell.
should only observe upon this subject, that the three
following points would be absolutely incensey to be
attended to in any plan that could give general satis-
faction ; the first point would be to extend the elec.
tivefranchise to many .svlio ate now excluded from its
but have undoubtedly, upon every principle of
justice, a right to a voice in the choice of representar
fives. The second point would be to strike off the
rotten boroughs ; and the third, tb bring back,Parlia.
meets to a constitutional duration. After expatia:::3
for some length on the advantages which would
from such a length
Reform, he moved,
" That an hnniole Petition be presented to the Hooottrabbello
Howie lA-Commons, aekoovrledging their rii,*Tte to all deosejush
privileges wisely intended for them, and lanieutlngwleat=
taken place ith regard to Gale ones and Sir Francis
though that would shortly undergo 1 legal decision ;
that they should have enfOrced the Standing Order *best
which was only calculated to distract the public audition ; tour
ing the places given to Mr. Yorke—avbeing wits a Renaud= 4
the House of Lords, that 'times of necessity were times of Rea
form,' alp! contending.tbat ail thirty alarmed the waft of so elle
tieat representation of the people in the House of commas. sod
that no: hilts; bet a Reform could correct she abuses complained
. of; maintaining that if there were a Reforth that the rues world
be equalized; that there would be no foreign mercenary trope
in the country •; and that the people would not have to &Om.
the ntisersble policy of the present Ministers if there were a Ito.
Com—praying that the House would take these matters Kato their
most serious considtratlon."
Mr. P.raitioN seconded the motion, and thought it
was absolutely necessary that that Court and the
Country should make a stand against this new as.
sumption of power, which, if not opposed, would in
future be A precedent for similar oats. He most
heartily coincided in the motion which had been made.
Mr. W. lioncE said, that about forty years ago, that
Court had unanimously declared certain proceedingi
of the then House of Commons to be illegal. When
the House of Commons instituted a search for pre-
cedents, they only found those precedents which were
in favour pi" themselves. Now he could state a case
in 104C14 he was personally concerned, and which was
decidediy the other way. He had Mitnerly been
summoned to attend the House of Commons, and dig
not chose to do it, but went into the country. The
House then addressed his Majesty ; and a proclama-
tion, offering £5O for his discovery, was issued. The
House of Commons, however, never thought of stn.
tding people down of' their own authority to break
into his house in the country. Lord Rosslyn at that
time gave it as his opinion, that it was the House of
epromons who had got themselves into a scrape in
the business. As ;obis opinion about Administration,
K was much like that which had been hurnourously
k.Mated by an extraordinary character that he had read.
'of, that whatever world he might hereafter be throwts,
into, could not be worse thin the present. He also
thought that whatever Administration might spcceed
the present, it was impossible to change for she worse.
Alderman C. SMITH was at a loss to perceive what
design or contrivance there could be on the part of
'Ministers. He ahought that it might make a consi-
derable alarm in distant places, 300 miles from tows,
to be told that the House of Commons was..impr4
soning Englishmen (di laugh). The Gentlemen w:ua,
however, now opposed this privilege, said nothing
against it twelve months ago, when -General Cie,
• lug and Captain Sandon, and other people want sent
to prison. lie thought that every man io the CD-tote?
would have 11;;d a serious cause of alarm, if the Come
mons had not supported their privileges on the r.cent
ocsasion.
Mr. JACK; thought those who were so anxious to
have the privileges cf Parliament defined should point
out what war. the proper mode of defining them. Did
Gentlemen wish the task should devolve on the Crowa,
or on tic House of Lords ? Both to him were preg-
naut with danger. Some Gentlemetewere of opinion,
that the existence of those privileges was inconsis.
tent with the law of the laud ; lie should contend,
however, suppr -in his assertion by the

,ported
_ _ opinions
of Coke and Blackstone, that the privileges of Perlis;
however, completely agree with him in thinking, that
one third part of the legislature had no- right to as- ; ment stood on the law of Parliament, which was $
part of the law of the land. Lord Cokes said, ihe.
some powers equal, if not superior, to what was
claimed by the whole. The House had travelled far ; law of Parliament was above the Common Law,
'and not to be defined any where but in their ow.
back in the history of the country, to find precedents
in support of the step which they had taken ; hut they House ; so also said Mr. Justice Blackstone. Magna
;
lied found none. There could be no legal right, with. I Charm had also been quoted in opposition to the pri-
out a legal means of exercising it ; and yet the House vileges of Parliament. The 16th Section of Magna
of Commons had no means of exercising the privi. : Charta said, that no freeman should be imprisoned sr
lege they claimed, but by calling upon the King m banished unless by the judgment of his Peers or theta*
of the land. Now if the law of Parliment was, tie COM
assist them. He had been asked, what power had
and .Biackstone said, part.of the la* of the land, then
the House of Commons to enable them to contend
against the Crown fHe would answer, that this 'was , the imprisonment of Burdett anCloses was-not coo.
an extreme case, and not very likely to occur ; but if trary to law. The worthy *Gentleman then reverted
to the subject of Parliamentary Refn.nn, and read an
extract from a le,tter +Lord Chatftam to.the City of
it should occur, lie knew of no real power which the
House of Commons could have except the support of
the people. This support of the people could never London on the subieet, Jil which Lord Chatham.
be obtained by any House of Commons, which did stated as his plan of Paigiamentary Refont, that is
not itself-support' the rights and lil•ertiesof the people. Knight should be added to every Shire, by way of
lie thought that through all the late events, he had balance against the mercenary Boroughs, .but not a
seen something like design and contrivance on the word of universal suffrage, or the destruction of the
part of Ministers. In the first place, Mr. Charles borough system, was to be found in the Noble Lord's
Yorke comes forward, and slims his complete igno- plan. The plan of Reform proposed was, in his (Mr.
ranee of the Constitution of England. He began his Jacks) opinion, like the speculative and abstract
complaint against 'Gale Jones, by founding it on the opinions and doctrines of the Rights of Man, which
9th article of the Bill of Rights, which prevents the we had seen exemplified in the Freneh Revolutions
proceedings of the Houses of Parliament from being and which had terminated in rapine and bloodshed.
questioned any where else. Now it was most obvious He called on Gentlemen to point out a time when
to any person who had the least idea of what the peculation arid corruption were
Bill of Rights meant, that the questioning which is when religious ancrcivil liberty
spoke of, was only that sort of question which took than they were at resent!' He
place on a legal process, and net that sort of question form, but not to universal suffra,
which takes place daily both in w4tings.nnd in dis- woulfketul to nothing an
cussions, and in conversaions, abin.4,tps con4pct of .
public men. This last sort of questioning no.act of , Mr. wished to call ,
Parliament could pre, ot, or ever meant to prevent. men to the mow which took

were less prevalent, and
rty were better protected
He as a friend to Rim ••
iffrage, which he thought
In overthrow of the C.
the attention of Omni&
k place at the itivothdott