Star.
London, England, 1817-02-18 00:00:00

I'iIirLIAMENT4RY PROCEEDINGS.

I:OUSE OP LORDS, FEBRUARY'II...ithr
Cnnsti rere further anti finally heard respecting the second
or Wt,ite,i,!e Liratiets of the Queensberry Leases Cause. A bearing
ti-en a third branch will take place to-morrow.
hural :iCI.3LY took the oaths and his seat on succeeding to the
rrei,gr, by the demise of his father, the late Lord.
Mr PAar.mouse preseuted the Tenth Report of the Carnatic
Commissioners.
Mr. Mr a rue o, from the Treasury, presented the Annual Ac-
respecting-the Northern Lights, and the White Herring
Sad DaVi: Straits Fisheries, which. as well as the preceding do-
cumeut, were bid upon the table.
fur Earl t t liAljrfEe DALE gave nislce, that he should to-
r--rne bung forward his intended motion upon the subject of
F.thch
The r.;thraltar Trade, and the Exchequer Bills Bills, were
br tight up from the Commons by Mr. Baocriart and others,
sud read a first dole.
the Cape of Good Hope Trade Bill was read a second time,
nel committed for to-morrow.—Adjourned.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
MITPORD presented the Report of the Commissioners
'`"-`4"..;" Ft-I,es% the =amber of sea-
sel, employed.--Ordered to I e on the table.
:it .. GKAHAM brought up the Report of the Gas I.ight
Committee,, and obtained leave to bring ins Bill tor-better regu-
hubs the lighting up of the Metropolis. the Bill was theu
bra' .t in, read a tint time, and ordered for a second reading.
Sir SAMUEL itOMILLY brought up the "Sall for repealing
the Act passed during the last Session for the regulation of Game.
'I lie bill was read a fires time, and anti some conversation be-
tween Mr E. KNATCHSULL, Mr. BAYKISiltad I\4l'3.oo[lllMT,
the mond reading was fixed for to-morrow fortnight.
Mr CASIiERD brought up the King's Bench Regulation Bill.
head a first time, and at Mr. suggestion ordered
to be read a second time on Monday neat, and to be printed.
M.. HOLFOKD presented the Petition of an individual,
calhaw haniselt John Thomas Waters, against the frequency of
Public L eccualuns, and suggesting the propriety of a change in
the cziitai punishment inflicted by the laws, as they new stood.
Mr. BENNETT took this opportunity of saying, has al-
though the Petition was signed by only etre individualb the send-
nun, ulna it expre sed were entertained by many, It prayed
Henie to direct its attention to a most important subject,
he: -means might as be foetid to commute the punishment
(Is to that of imprisonment f In other caudal/4101p Antes
MCC, he knew that penitentiaries wiry
one . tontaining no less titan £OOO lonlong its tbh.o44
feu:lets were trained to habits of industry, and ran-I'W 101..•
at the'eXpiration of chair time, instead of being eacrilitlee FM, TM
Le of example. He hoped that the attention of. 1110
aild he attracted to the possibility of adopting similar
:hat id the public was must alive to the importance of the rub
ct. 'I he I'i-tutu:i was then read and ordered to lie on thetable.
en Mr. LllbliiNG l ON's motion, the Lechequer Bills Bill
read r third time and passed.
PETITIttss Fttlt alepau.
Sir C. ...ORGAN presented a Petition for-Parlia-
Any Reform, from the Inhabitants and Free-
Arlen of .the County of Monmouth.—Ordered to
on the Table. -
Sir F. BUR DETT presented Petitions to the same
t, from tie Inhabitants of the Parish of Christ
reb,.Bpitaltields, from those of Rippon, In York-
and those of Carlisle, and its vicinity.—Order-
ed to lie on the Table.

Sir F. BURDETI then postponed his motion re-
cling Parhamentiry Reform till after Easter.
LORD CitCHRANR AND UR. BRoUGHAM.
Lord COCHRANE presented a Petition from the
ihabitants of Narborough, 4 the County of Lei-
ster. As it prayed for Annual Parliaments and
liversal Suffrage, he concluded that at would fall
idtr the disapprobation of an Honourable and
aned Gentleman, who, the other day, had de.
,a-ed such objects absurd and improper. Hat he
le no further, that was only matter of opinion on
iiich he had a right to express his own. But when
took upon himself to designate the whole people
England into two classes ; the one composed of
gning men, and the other of dupes, of those
10 wished to mislead, and of the misled, be pouf
chrane) felt it his duty to make a few onscsvatietsif,
1 defence of the universality of suffragea,'lle takM,
'rig an higher authority than his ovii4 4.149 f.
' --•-•‘e, who positively stated, that thejasirkaiv
the. right of punishing criminals, was foend-
the principle that the law under which they
,ffered had been made with their own consent.—
'r, hear). —Tnat law, to be law, must have been
ated to oy all. And that every man is a party
the passing of an Act of Parliament, having been
it to it by Lis Representative. If this were the
how could Scotland, the country in *kb be
bons be considered as tepreseqted ? It bad

LordCOCHRANE cdinpleined that the Speaker
had not waited till hr had completed the sentence,
when it might have appeared unobjectionable.
The SPEAKER—I am sorry to say the sentence
was but too complete.
Lord COCHRANE maintained. that he had only,
quoted the opinion of a Learned Judge, not his own. '
He then alluded to what had fallen hum an Ho-
nourable and Learned Gentleman on a previous oc-
casion, respecting the absurd notion of universal
suffrage. Though he was no; competent to contend
,with that Honourable Member in point of words, he
still maintained that the people 'judged coolly and
rightly on all occasions. His opinion coincided with
theirs ; and as to the Honourable and Learned Gen-
tleman, he might have had some fellow-feeling for
them, as he had once himself professed the same
sentiments.—(No, from ;Mr. Brougham). —He held
proofs of it in his hand.—(Hear, hear). —On the 23d
June, 1814, when that Honourable and Learned
Gentleman, who now represented a rotten Borough,
expected to be put up by the Independent Electors
of Westminster, as a candidate for that City, he had
been called upon to subscribe a declaration of his po-
litical creed.—(llear, hear).—He had then held that
Annual Parliaments, and a Suffrage co-extensive
with Taxation, were very proper. Of this he (Lord ,
Cochrane) could not entertain the least doubt. He
had seen it in the hand-writing of the Honourable
and Learned Member.—(Hear, /rear).—This was not
an opinion elicited by the suddenness of the occasion,
weeds uttered in the heat of debate. It was written
coolly on paper by the Honourable Gentleman as his
political test. It was not signed with his name, but
it was in his own hand-writing. Two days after he
had uttered the speech in which those sentiments
were expressed, he had been called upon to correct,
the report of it, when he had preferred writing it afresh
himself. This was too at the time when he, who
now represented a rotten Borough, expected to be.
come the Representative of a populous City. He
should now ask that Honourable and Learned Gen-
tleman whether this was his hand-writing ?—(Pre-
resting a italter)—(Order, order).—This might not be
very regular—( Laughter)—but he thought it neces-
sary, lest he should be accused of imposing upon
the House. (Hear.) The words of the Honourable,
and Learned Member were as follow As often
as we (mark the we), as often as we have re-
quired Parliaments elected yearly, and an elective
franchise co-extenaive with taxation, we have been
desired to wait, ter the zirmy war at our 'gam. Thu
argument can now no longer 6 applicable, add the,
enemies of Reform must look for another." Again,
" It would be superfluous to reason before this com-,
pany on these topics (meaning of course, ,said the I
Noble Lord, Annual Parliaments and universal suff-
rage), we are all agreed on the necessity of having
representation co-ettensive with direct taxation, for
what man was there, even to the beggar in the streets,
who was not taxed; if not in a direct manner, at
least in the shoes which he wore, and the food which
he ate, the price of which was heightened by taxa-
tion?" (ffear,hrar.) It might be amusing for the House
to hear some more of the writing of the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman, and be should read it. He then
read several other passages, in which the author ap-
imtd to the testimony of his Honourable Friend the
ber for Middlesex, for the sincerity of his poli-
tieal principles, and the truth. of the observation, that
" a digit important change took place in the' House
w* it seine towards the last year of a Parliament."
I(,ffor,'-hear):—This reason he (Lord Cochrane)
thought very probable and very good ; but he beg.
gerkthe attention of the House to another passage, in
which the Honourable and Learned Gentleman com-
plained of a toast at the London Tavern, for" A
full, fair, and free Representation in Parliament,"
because it left out the People. The Honourable and
Learned Gentleman had then contended, that there
was a full, fair, and free Representation in Parlia-,,
meat, for the aristocracy and landed proprietors, and
1
other elevated classes, but not for the people, and'
'had declared that it must soon be otherwise ; that
the people who bore the burthens of the State must
also share in its Government; and that to effect such
an object all good men must cordially unite. In
this the Honourable and Learped Gentleman went I
much further than he now did. But it was remark-
able that he had at an antecedent period entertained
the same opinions which he now avowed. So that he
had in fact bad three periods in his political senti.l
, ments.—(Hear, hear.) —Oat, when he neither be-
longed to the deluders nor the deluded,- but was
friendly to that moderate Reform which would only
,effect inconsiderable changes in the state of things ; I
another, when looking to his (Lord Cochrane's) ex-
,pulsion from the Holum, he expected a vacancy
in
, the Representation of Westminster ; and another,
again, when he had become the Representative of a'
Totten Borough. Ought he not, therefore, to have
ibewn some delicacy and some fellow-feeling for
-those men whom he described as deceivers and de.
Iceived ? And might he not have conGued himself
'so perm-me a sentence of condemnation against
tthell-opiniOns, and not their characters
vlitHicared the conduct add consistency of ane Hon.
Frierrid:6l-hii,'Major Cartwright, who was clear from
-aHidiiittiations, who bad never stooped to any party,
but hadimiformly and conscientiously advocated the
cause' of radical Reform and annual Parliaments,
because, -as the Hon. and Learned Gentleman had
rightly observed, more good was done in the last
than in all the other years of a Parliament. He
should say nothing more at present, but move that
the Petition hi received, unless he should find him-
self forced to state other facts to the House.
Mr. BROUGHAM considered no situation more

rtinfill, to one sn abundantly sensible of tl.e unim-
portance of the subject, than th tt which called upon
him, with what regularity or irregulatity the House
would judge, to speak of himself. In compassion to
the painfulness of such a situation the indulgence of
the House had always been exerted.—(Hear, hear.)
Let it not be tit, tight that he court•d or avoided this
opportunity, but he gave his best the k, to the Noble
Lord for the open and frank mutter in which he
had brought forward his charges against him. He
shou!d only require a few words to spew that a more
groundless aspersion had never been levelled at the
consistency of a public man, than that which had
been directed against him. He did not accuse the
Noble Lord, or those' persons out of door; who had
pet a brief into is hand, of falsehood in their report
of what had passed. But he accused them of rash-
ness and of impatience in not' waiting a few shirt
days, till they had heard the opinions which he enter-
tained now, before they imputed any inconsistency to
him.. It was not of the Noble Lord that he com-
plained, but of those in whose bands he was but an
instrument—(Htur, hear)--and who might have
known, that when the other day be had made some
I observations on Parliamentary Reform, he had pre-
faced them by a public reservation of the whole of
his opinion on that subject until the Motion of his
Honourable Friend should come before the House.
How did they, or the Noble Laid, know thy he
should not then have stated the woe opinions in the
very same words ? It was impossible they should
have such a knowledge. The Noble Lord had also
misstated, in a few respects, what had t,lc.:n place at
the London Tavern dinner. He had been attended
there by Nis Honourable Friend, the Member for
Middlesex, the late lamented Mr.Whitbread, and the
Members for Herefordshire and Shrewsbury, and
other Honourable Friends, who aught a& their tes
timone to his own. Words to the purport of those'
read by the Noble Lord had fallen from him at that
occasion ; but those who had furnished him with' ape
papers must have known that, one of his principal
motives for correcting what he had said was to pre-
vent the possibility, in subjects so nice and difficult,
of Ms words being misrepresented. He still stood
by the opiaion which he had then expressed. He
still maintained that the right of voting for Repre-
sentatives ought to be limited by direct taxation.—
He had been alarmed lest that opinion should have
been construed into an approbatioh of universal suf-
frage, and therefore Ind been anxious to correct what
he had stated, especially as he had not theri the ho.
Dour of a seat in that House, in which any misre-
presentation might be at once set right. In his opi-
nion, now as then, the payment of direct taxes ought
to limit the right of voting. The Noble Lord might
call that universal suffrage, and he would riot dispute
with him for a word, but he ought to have known
- diffeteace which esisieil Oetween Ohe two
classes of Reformers consisted precisely in that point,
that one was for universal suffrage, and the other for
suffrage regulated by direct taxation. As the Noble
Lord had referred to his former opinions, and to those
which he described as adopted since and more mode-
rate, he should offer a few words upon the subject.
He had expres;ly stated, six years ago, to those who
wished for something more extensive than triennial
Parlianients, the cutting off ohs few rotten boroughs)
and an improvement in the representation of hcot-
land, that they ought to be satisfied with, and to
stop short at the attainment of certain objects ; that
the result would :hew that it was wise and salutary
to begin with attempting what was practicable only ;
and that when once they had made good a firm foot-
ing, they might proceed with less difficulty to other
objects. With that opinion his Honourable Friend,
the Memberlor Westminster, concurred. He tiusted,
that in consequence of the manner in which he hid
been calfed,ripoo, contrary to the usual courtesy and
Proceedings, of the House, to come forward in his
own defence, the House would pardon him for the
time which he had occupied. The Noble Lord was
mistaken, if be thought that by producing the speech
which he had made at the London Tavern, he would
make him swerve from any thing which he might
have said in the House, in consideration of opinions
Which he might have changed. He was not so fedded
to foolish ideas of consistency, which were frequently
carried too far; neither should he be deterred ifollll
expressing the same opinions in the same words, if,
on mature deliberation, he should think it proper.
He considered that he bad a right to remain uninflo-
enced by what others had said, what he might have
said himself, or what the Noble Lord had expressed.,
As to the miserable motive imputed to him, that to
occupy the Noble Lord's seat in that House, he
should be capable of prostituting himself and his
opinions; of to gratify a popular clamour and ride
into that House on the shoulders of the mob—(Hear)
—a's others had done—(Hear, hear)—lie treated all
such imputations with the contempt which they de-
served. The only pain which he felt was at the folly
and the madness ot the base expedients used to sepa-
rate the people from the Constitut on, in order to gra-
tify party feelings, and to compass objects in which
the advantage of individuals was all, and the good
of the country nothing—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. W. WARD was convinced, by a friend-
ship• of years, that the Honourable and Learned
Member who had just sat down was incapable of
doing any thing unbecoming his high character. But
lie could not retrain from taking notice of an expres-
sion which. bad fallen from him in tt.e coots: of the
debate. Acciasding to his owe statement, he had tins
retormers itsi.poderate than himself, that they ought
to sacrifice every thing to have a beginning and ob-
tain a firm footing—memorable words, w her coming
from such an authority—(Near, hear.) —He had thus
at last acknowledged, what this side of the House
had always maintained, that it the Reformers car-
ried one point, they would only consider it as a step
to more. He hoped, that 'when the discussion should
be opeaed, a firm opposition would be made to every
species of Reform. When its advocates should pies
tend that it was harmleji and beneficial, he would

as effectually to protect the public purse against the
prodigality of Ministers, the great bulk of the nation
would be s ithfied. It was really curious to s” Gen-
than n so frightened at the id,s of MI °As upon the
Constitution of the country,sitting behind pet soils who
had made the greatest inroads ever 'known in that
Constitution—(ilear, hear, hear.)—who had bou4ht
up the Irish Parliament (Hear, hear, hear.) and this
was not a mere rumour; it had been eff !red to be
proved at the bar of that House by the Speaker of
that Parliament, who had brought over 100 Members
and ine,rporated them with the English House of
Commons, and had tffect: d such immense alteratioes
and inro ids ! He did not enter into the merits of these
measures, but it was strange that the Hon. Gentle-
man who had supported them should consider any
proposal for the most moderate Reform, as replete
with danger, and throwing a blot on she Constitution.
As to the regula'tion of the right of voting according
tb direct tAlati3n, he conceived, that notwithstandi!ig
the 'outcry for Vbittrial suffrage, such a measure
would meet all wishes and answer every end. lie
then recommended union and unanimity to the H m.
Members who considered Reform necessary. He
blamed their giving way to petty animosities, in-
stead of acting against the great grievance of the
country, and wasting their force in acrmonious
disputes, a warmth of language, and imputations
equally void of foundation.
Mr. BRAND contended, that k was unfair to
say, that because Reformers wished to have a begiu-
ning it was to lead to any thing mischievous or revo-
lutionary.—( Hear, hear.) —He protested against such
insinuations. He agreed with his friend the Hon.
Baronet, in regretting the differences which had arisen
between the supporters ot Parliamentary Reform,
and he disapproved still more of those who professed
an attachment to the cause and held out chimerical
systems to divert the attention of the people from the
right oblea, and retard its attainment. All were
acquainted with the h•autur and high character of
his Learned Frit nd, who had offectu illy repelled the
attack untiecessatily introduced and unkistly levelled
at him. He liopcd that the Noble L ird would ab-
stain from such attacks against those who had the
same objects in view which the Noble Lord professed
to support.
Lord A. HAMILTON, adverting to the &seem-
, tions which had been made by the Honourable Gen.
tleman opposite (Mr. Ward), thought that the Ho-
nourable Gentleman might have abated somewhat
of the severity of his observations, and Might have
expressed himself in terms of less decided hostility
against, all descriptions of Parliamentary 'Reform
whatever, by the recollection of his having formerly
supported the other side of the Htluse, and sat by the
side of Mr. Fox and other distinguished individuals,
who had maintained the cause of rational Reform,
(Hear, hear, Andre.)—When the subject should be re-
gularly brought before the House, and when he
(Lord A. Hamilton), should be called on, in com-
mon with every other Member of the House, to give
his opinion upon it, he should state the reasons which
convinced him that Reform to a certain extent was
indispensable to the wellbeing of the country.
Mr. J. W. WARD explained, that evert whilst
sitting on the same side with the Noble Lord, he had,
at the risk of offending the great majority of his
friends, pronounced his opinion against Reform as
distinctly as now.
Mr. CANNING thought that it was natural for
the friends of Reform to give earnest reconimenda-
tions that the p.ior Reformers should not quarrel
with each other till they had extorted from -the
House what now existed, in the hopes of obtaining
that which they did not even know where to find.
Not less than six shades of sentiments bad been dis.

played on the subject of refirtn that night, and the
Honourable Baronet, who formed about the fifth,
had advised his friends not to open their haberdashery
wares on this occasion. He. tat the contrary, en-
treated every Gentleman who had a pocket plan of
Parliamentary Reform, to produce it, that the House
might compare them together. He had no doubt
but when there were so many varieties, no man would
be sufficiently fool-hardy as to stick fast by the
House, and preclude himself from those beautiful
specimens. He should offer no opinion respecting
the difference which he understood had taken place
between the Noble Lord and the Honour ible and
Learned Genii. m in, bt t he must confess that, wi is
regard to Parliamentary Reform, the Noble Lind
had been hardly used. Though his system would he
ruin, destruction. and derlation to the cot ntry, et
all that was ri . tagordulg to his (the Noble Lore: s)
views of the in. ect.„ keen it was discussed whdc
the House wou ckty
tiasit gain, it was found .to Viz a
great additional ssirehols in the approbation of tto
country. if they looked at the number of p ntions
and signatures which came b fore the House, it
would be seen that, according to the N b,le Lord,
the great majority was for anneal Parliaments and
universal suffrage. But they were brow-beaten by
those very Gentlemen who accused that side of the
House with brow-beating petitioners. The adoption
of the system to which he had alluded, would, he
was convinc4, not only be attended by the ruin of

I'ut Ii Executluni
the c4i,itai puniels!
Mr. BENNE]
though the Pelitit
Mutt. ‘‘httli it ex
the House to dire
whether -means ti
of death to that ul
ricktrirriktance,
air of 9tem tout
lttelerj were traii
at the'elpiratiou
take of example.
oreukl he attract'
That of the pubs
jict. .1 he I'rtlti
en Mr. UZl-
yia4 read rtLud I
8;r C.
annul' Kett
h;Atien Of th
lie on the 'fa!
Sir F. B
effect, from
Church, Spiv
shire, and tho
td t,) he on tl
S:r F. )3U I
tpcting Purl
LORD
Lord COC
Inhabitants o
tester. As i
Universal Su
usdcr the d
I Learned Ge:
tired such
F.one no fort
vilich he hat
!!e took upon
•t England
slesigning in
ow wished I
C.Thrane) ft
13 defence o
b-ing an nil
2 irckstone,
eta Cl the.r
d on the p
vffered had
Pear, hear)
t%ented to I
0 the passin
I resent to it
ases how cc
teat bon. I

0

e House, but by the total subversion of the Con-1
afitution. Such consequences flowed by direct de-1
euction from those pi inciples. nod therefore he
ti.ought it necessary to oppose. at its very first be-
ginning, what was to end in ruin. The House and
cnoatry were rnnch ohFged to his Honottrab;e
enrl for not allowing the obstrvation of the Ho-
w-no-Ale and Learned Gentleman to pass unnoticed.
To yield the least ft citing would, be to admit the
principle, that the House, as it stood, was not an
adequate representation Of the people. He con-
tended that it was, as much as it ever had been
or could be. Let the Hctiae meditate on the six or
seven plans of Pat liamentary Reform which hail been
offered, and let it beware. If it took a single step it
would give wa), net to a definitive syst..m tf altera-
tions, but it would fail from the deep to a lower deep
from the lower to the lowest deep, into a state
of inexii icahle conl usion.— (Hear, hear.)
Mr. TIERNEY said, t'.at on his conscience he did
nut think Pailiament weird all that interests of the
people to as great an ereot as it might. His own
olij 'et was to make the House gradually and practi-
cally a true representative of the interests of the peo-
ple. B. paid that he would nit stir. The Right
Honourable Gentleman was c, itainly the only man
in his Majesty's dominions...oho thought that no good
could be produced by any plan of Reform. It was
natural to feel alarm at some of those which had
been sugges'ed ; but if the Wight Honoitrable. Gen-
tleman said no specks of It, form whatever could
yield advantage, lie Thought he should never find a
seconder. As to Annual Parliaments and. Universal
Suffrage, he had heard the eloquence used towards
the Noble Lord to induce him to withdraw his sup-
port from them; but what could speak more elo-
quently to the Noble Lord than what had taken
place that night. when he heard the Right Honour-
able Gentleman, the avowed enemy of Reform, call
upon him to go on ?—( Hear, hear.) If, alter that,
the Noble Lord persisted in his course, he must cease
to believe th.t lie was acting for the good of the
people, and consider that, instead of serving the cause
of Reform. he was playing into the hands of the Gen-
tlemen opposite.—(Hear, hear.) The Right Hon.
Gentleman had mentioned with a snikr the wish ex-
pressed, that the friends of Reform should make up
their differences. Did lie mean to say that he had
got a monopoly of making up differences?—(Near,
hear.) How had he and those about'him, lie would
inquire, made up their differences ? If they had done
that, he thought no plan too extravagaitt not to be
effected. Great alarm had been expressed, that it
any thing was resolved, GOD alone could know where
it would end : that the door once set open, every
thing would rush through it. Bat in another instance
lie chi not find that to have been the case. He had
heard it ;aid, that of all the most mischievous men in
the cournry, Lord Camden was the most mischievous.
He had opened a door, but he did not see that it led
beyond.—{Near, hear, hear.) In fact, the Noble Lord
opposite ((...istlereagli) had stopped the whole short.
He had given no encouragement or follow the Prince
Regent's example: he had quickly dissipated the
alarm which had prevailed amongst the holders of '
sinecures, and caused them to rest perfectly satisfied
wild what had been done.—(blear, hear.) As to
another Honourable Friend, he could not say what
his sentiments might be resrecting other things besides
Parliamentary Reform ; for he had been Chairman
of a Sinecure Committee, and had gone so tar as to
say that two Paymasters were not necessary to receive
one salary. Was he not afraid of having committed
a great, inroad on the Constitution by expressing such
Mntiments?—(Hear, hear, hear.)
Mr. LY TTLETON defended his Honourable and
Learned Friend (Mr. Brougham) from the attacks
of a Noble Lard (Cochrane). He considered that
the worst enemies of -Reform were those strange. un-
constitutional innovators, whose advocate the Noble
Lord (Cochrane) was in the House, and his seconder
the Right Honourable' Gentleman opposite (Mr.
Canning).
Lord COCHRANE assured.the House, that had
the Honourable and Learned Menthe, confined him-
self to reprove his conduct, he should have remained
silent; but he had felt himself obliged to come for.
ward when improper imputations hail been thrown on
those whose conduct he believed to be honourable,
and they had been represented as deceivers or decei-
ved. He did not blame him for the opinions which
he might have once entertained, and those be might
now express in an altered tone; but he thought that
his aspersions ought at least to have beeri less severe.
Nothing personal had in any degree originated with
fernsell—he had thrown no imputation on any one.
He had stated his opinion, that Triennial Parliaments
would do no good—that seats would be sold, and
majoeities obtained in that House, as they now were.
And be bad the authority of the Learned Gentleman
himself for asserting that more good was effected,
during the last year of-a Parliament than in any ofl
thesreceding ones—chat it cotinterbalanced all' the
evils of the others—and that the cause of that diffe-
rence was the appeal which the Members found they
Must make to their Constituents. When the great
question of Parliamentary Reform should be discussed
he trusted that it would be with open doors, that the
country might be made acqu.einted with all the de-
bates in that House.—/Oreier, Order.) He meant,
that the country should'be enabled to ascertain that
her interests had been fully and fairly discussed.—
(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BROUGHAM did not understand what the,
Noble Lord meant by an altered tone. He denied
havintaltered or lowered his tone either with regard
to the question itself, to the Noble Lord, or to his
abettors elsewhere. He could not refrain, however,
from alluding to one topic which the Noble Laird had
introduced. He had spoke" of a certain influence,
not that of the Crown, not that atisiog from the in-
structions of Constituents, bet one whiih was un-
known within the walls of that House :he had seemed
to refer to the intimidation of that souse itself by the
reople. Warm as he was in the *cause of- Parliamen-
tary Reform, he held that it tniat be supported by
other means that by intietidatiear and if he heard one
single writ &more from the Noble Lord upon the sub-
ject, he should be one of the first to join either in
postponing the discussion of the question, aim die, or
in taking all the Means which could be used to prevent
the exercise of the influence to which the Noble Lord
hid alluded.— (Hear, hear.)
Lord COCHRANE having explained, the Peti-
tion was received, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. CROKER presented an account of the Sala-.
riel of the Secretaries of the Admiralty for the hot
year, and a statement of any increase made to them
lon account of the late war against the Del of Al•

ed to be on the table.
AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.

Mr. DICKENSON presented a petition. nume-
rously signed by the Owners and Occupiers of Land,
in the counties of Somerset and Gloucester, com-
plaining of the distresses by which the Agricultural
Class are overwhelmed at present, by the pressure of
taxes and poor-rates, the high price of the necessa-
ries for their occupation, and the inadequate price of
produce. He talc occasion to speak highly in praise
of the patience and fortitude with which these per-
sons endured the calamities by which they are now
afflicted, and of the respectful tone of the petition, as
well as their confidence in the interference of ?orna-
ment for the adoption of such measures as should be
deemed most efficient for their relief. The petitio-
ners in particular prayed, that there might be some
alteration made in the Corn Laws of ISIS, which
they described as totally inadequate to the protec-
tion of the cultivators of the soil ; and they h-iped for
the support of his Majesty's Ministers to assist in pro-
moting any more effectual measure which might he
proposed to the House, or that they (Ministers)
would themselves come forward with any plan o hich
they might think fitted to attain the desired object.
He moved that the petition be brought up.
The petition was then brought up, read, and • or-
dered to lie on the table.
Lord CAS I'LEREAGH tof,lc this opportunity of
requesting an Honourable Member orposite to post-
pone front Thursday till *Friday a notice which he
had given respecting the Poor Laws, as it was not
likely that there would be so full an attendance on
Thorsday as was desirable on the discussion of so
important a question.
Mr. CURW EN said be had no objection to com-
ply with the wish of the Noble Lord—indeed the im-
portance of the subject was such, that when there
was any prospect of a thin attendance in the House
he could not hesitate about postponing it. Referring
to the petition which was last presented, he said that
the distresses of the country could not be stated
higher than they really were. But at the same
time he did not think that the petitioners had a.true
notion of the proper means by which relief was to be
obtained. If-he-had been in Parliament at the time
that the Corn Bill or 1815 passed, he should cer-
tainly have voted in favour of it, pot with the view.
in which the petitioners seem to have regarded it,
but because he thought that Act Would have had the
effect of affording bread to the consumer at a cheaper
'rate. It was with that view that he believed the Act I,
in question to have been passed, and not for the pot-
' purpose of bolstering up the paper-money system.—
With respect to the motion of which he had given
notice, whatever difference of opinion there might be
on other subjects between himself and the Noble
Lord opposite, Me hoped that upon that question at
least they would cordially agree.
Mr. LYTTLETON presented a petition from
certain Freeholdirs and other inhabitants of Tedbury
praying for Reform and annual Parliaments. He
thought it necessary to state, that the petition was
not very numerously signed, but that it was in re-
spectful language. The Petition was brought up,
read, and ordered to lie on the table.

Mr. BROUGHAM rose to present a petition from
a most respectable body of the inhabitants of the
Ward of Castle Baynard, in the City of London. It,
prayed for a moderate Reform, and triennial Parlia.
meets, and expressed a strong disapprobation eV the
violent conduct of soon* professed friends to Reform,
and expressed a confident hope that Parliament
would not be influenced by such proceedings, bet
would proceed steadily in its own path. The petition
was couched in moderate and respectful language. It
was brought up, read, and ordered to lie on the table.