The Statesman.
London, England, 1818-05-06 00:00:00

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rosarl IS. the Jinn. Bart. came down, and without
Inop..seil to the floese to rescind their &OP-
role detormin.tion. The lion. Bart. had 151(1 110
grimed eiorforer for his motion.. What took place
in snot her Pintiantent, in 4809, was nn ground. Be
sides it was Rot correct to say that the Noble Lord
...raped without censure; although certainly he (Mr.
WI ma) tinsug,ist.. the censure ton mild. The nest
year P.illiameat posted an Art- remove Mime
-slaubts ohichenisted onibieksobject by declarlog arts
.similar to silo with which the Noble Lord hell been
charged P.nal offences. With respect to the other
case in MO, to the derision in that ease, he. (..Mr.
Wynti's was no party. But the ground of it was that
parliament having just passed the Act to which be
.had allowed, it woad.) not he just to snake its opera-
Aloes retrospective. To arced. In the Lion.
motion mould be to declare that the bribery of elec-
tion was no offence,. And to annul ell the practice of
).ear forefathers from the earliest periods of the bis-
tro,' of Parliament, Ow, these Amends it appeared
to him to be impossible; that Abe Haase coeld enter-
tain the MM. Baroitst's prespositioe.. Whenever
the case might come regularly. before the •linese on
the Petition of the individual suffering ender its dis-
pleasure; it would then be a fit subject for consi-
deration ; but at present it was not lA.
Colollel WOOD said, that the Honourable Bs-
renel. who was so ready to accuse. others, of undue
practices in elections, would perhaps remembirewhen
ills his first contest for Middlesee, be bad little pro.
..--aped of beieetteuraed,3oo millers toted for him as
proprietors of a &tit which was not built, and of
which they had become possessed but the preceding
night; teat the Sheriff 'was sent to Newgate for bis
;rose partiality to the Honourable Baronet ; and the
election was declared void. On the second contest
of the Honourable* Baronet for Middlesex, never
was there a greeter-display of Universal Suffrage.—
Persons who were gealilied, and persons who were
not, were indiscriminately polled, until prosecutions
for perjury were set on foot, and many of the votes
abandoned ; and eventually the lionojele Baronet
.Qll not obtain his seat. Perhaps tn"-- Honourable
.Baronet might remember the third election for Mid.
. diesel, at which he was a Candidate, and at which
all the practices resorted to at the second election
were exposed and brough tto light ; and at which,
while the present Member for Middlesex polled ,
3000 votes, the Honourable Baronet polled only
'Boo.—Thin was the history of the Honourable Be-
tenet's contests for Middlemen- If he had forgotten
them, the einelme of Middlesex had not ; and were
the Honourable Bennet to start a fourth time, he
would experience the same result.
Mr. BRAND regretted the introduction of per-
sonalities intp the present discussion. His lion.
Friend had alluded as slightly as possible to the
.dividuals whom be bad been. obliged to mention.—
,[44 laugh from the Treasury Bench.]—Gentlemen
;might laugh, but they might remember the Hon.
-Baronet said, he rather wished, on the occasions to
Which be bad adverted, that the offs'nce should be
,visited with a light hand because it was one of such
general notoriety. Ile did not, therefore, think that
Athe Honourable Baronet bad pressed the 'object in a
way that ought to be at all offensive to the Noble
lord or to bis personal friends. His (Mr. Brand's)
;object in rising, however, was to state the regions
,which prevented him from concurring in his Hon.
Friend's motion. Ile had most unwillingly witnessed
the introduction of the charge against the Noble
.T.Ard and the Right Hon. Gentleman nine or ten years
ego. He had most reluctantly felt himself bound on
that occasion to vote for the resolution inculpatory of
their conduct ; but having done so he felt a duty to
maintain his consistency by pursuing a similar course
with respect to Ferguson. If the House were to
agree to his Honourable Friend's motion, it would be
it once to declare to the country, that all irregularities
-or Breaches of Privilege with respect to Elections
were thencefor ward to pm* u unoticed and unpunished.
In his conscience, therefore, he must oppose the
Motion ; though he confessed he was at a loss to on-
alerstand how those lion. Members who rejected the
foriner resolution inculpatory of the Noble Lord,
could reject his Honourable Friend's present propo-
iition.
, Mr. CURWEN observed, that the Bill which he
Introduced several years ego would have gone far to
remedy such evils as that In which the attention of
the House was now called, had it not been deprived
of alt efficacy by the Amendments which were en-
grafted 09 it.
, Sir F. BURDETT, in reply, observed, that as
the Noble Lord (Castlereagh) had said so little on
the subject now before them, he did not think it ne-
cessary to take any satire of what had fallen from
him. As for what the Honourable Member behind
bite had said about the Middleses Elections, he cer-
tainly had a perfect recollection of all the proceed-
iris connected with them; indeed no man had less
reason to format them than be bad. He bad
twice experienced the remedy asiticis the House
in its wisdom-had thought peeper to provide in cases
of contested Elections; and he could assure them,
that to enjoy that benefit a third time would be out
of his power. With respect to the different Boroughs
throughout the country, nothing could be so disco's-
. ;peed with property as the right to tote. In the
case of the millers alluded to by the Ilan. Gentle.
man, the House did not come to a decision, on the
ground that the persons in question had not been a
certain time assessed to the Land-tax. Ile also re-
collected that the Sheriffs who made the Return were
sent to Newgate. The Sheriffs returned him as he
bad the majority on the poll; nor did the House of
Commons came to a decision in the case of the millers.
--With regard to the last Election, it was true the
Sheriffs were not sent to Newgate, because, though
be (Sir F. B.) had a majority on the poll, they not-
withstanding reterned-a bliaisterial Member. Those
qemlemen who bad formerly wished for enquiry in
the cue of the Noble Lord and his colleague, were
certainly quite consistent is opposing the present
Motion. Bet those who formerly, in the case of the
Noble Lord, voted against all enquiry, could not
-tainly, with any thing like consistency, oppose
present motion; though he was perfectly well
re ihat.the Noble Lord would succeed in per-
)ading a majority of the House to think With him,
!hat which in a high Officer of.Goeernment was
rectly justifiable, was quite unjustifiable in the
Iran bumble individual. It would be quite use-
and indeed ridiculous, to give the Houle the

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Lars,
41