The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-05-11 00:00:00

I.VP ERIA

1101;i42 07 LORDS. WesiellFDAT, MAY 10.

Th.• met at the accustomed early hu•lr on
ratan days, Wiiril th.•ir Lordships heard Poona •1 at
sn•nr lencth on the Scats Aneal, Dun'uar
proceed again on Friday.
he IA)111) CIIINUELLOR acquaint. d the noose
toe had received a hearer from the Morris of Ha•iovi,
tiovcrnisr-General of Inita, acktiuwletigiug the receipt
i•f :heir Lori hips' Vote of Thanks fur his eminent
services in the conduct and termination of the recent
war in India. TI .e !rater bias concised in the usual
of expressing the Noble Writer's high :And e rate-
sense of the honour so conferred upor, him and the
army no.ler his cu•nn.and.

! he letter, which it appeared was addressed to Lord
f !i•t Horn" Ilitritarits-:, who officiated as Si?ei:l.cr at
the time of the Vote, being read, was ordered to I•e
P n !t. re ti upon their Lordships' Joornals: and the
!loose at one o'clock aAjouractl (to-ttios row being Holy
liitar.day) till F:idar.
•
HOUSE OF C01010:01. Wr.DNEIDAY, MAY 10.

Only six-and-tli:rty Members being present •rt four
the Houve adjourned till to-morrow.

rut; PI1001:FSS OF PUBLIC OPLY/O.V
ON PARLIAMENTARY Rl•;rottM.

Nu. XI.

'IA: Dt Kit UP R ICDDIOND'A D:a I. /OR ryirsimu. SFr-
/DAUS AND AN %CAI. PAUI.IADENIA.

Notwithstanding the continuance and extension of l
the riots, which at their conterneement bad interrupt
eft the Duke el Richmond's !notion in the House of
Lords, his Grace appeared determined, whether in sea-
>.•n ur out of season, to assert the right of every loan
"I the rinunionalty of Herat Britain, excepting- infants,
natant persons and crlipinals, to an actual represent*.
1... a in the House of qpnittions. He only stihmitted
to suspend his purpeso for a single day; and on the
b-it wing, while. the alurnis and resetitnienes of the
p:. Mi.- were alive and warm, and a numerous attend-
ance of their Lordships was collected, presented to
their ionsieteration a Bill, which, inauspicious as its
introduction was, has formed a hew and most import-
ant era in the history of Reform.
This celebrated Bill was intittiled As rlrtfrr de-
t!.is in' ash rer:uri,,, the nets, a!, unalienable., am!
t lead •igAl f ALL at: coxmoss Great Britain
persons of insane mind, and erineimais Mee-
pi tinted by low. o.ly ex,' pod ), To vorr. IN the Eke-
tr..): of their Bopremotatiers at. Parliament: Fur re-
.aiing the "matter ty such Eleellutts: For restoring
.I.5Ni AL PAHLIA3IIS7S: Fur giving an hereditury
Mr Si.rtera Per,s, whit A shall be sleeted fur
A.:otlemol : and, fir rstablisiliirg mure egnitatde rega-
-1 Luna coneer;.i,as the Prerffie ofScotland.
TO _show the expediency of the measure he proposed,
thp Noble Doke 10-gan to preface his motion with a
maid sun-ev of the t'onstitivion of the Font ##### ns
House of iarliatnetit. he accounts that have been
handed down to nc of his speech, on this occasion, are
t-n:Ortunately very brief; but enough appears to prove
the necessity of a radical Reform, trout the defects and
• MI which he pulllll4l out iu the repreAM!ll.atle sys-
t.in of the boroughs. The boroughs iti this coon-
t?y," he said, " were, according to their present
e iroititutions, dangerous t,, liberty, and the great tri-
gine in the hands of Ministers to enforce measures the
opposite to the real interests of the State. They
w.re the very sink of corruption; corrupt themselves,
::.ey enabled the ministry to corrupt others, and to buy
and to sell the dignity mid honour of the nation. Some
these boroughs, which might perhaps have been for-
merly considerstile. were now so sunk, that scarcely
the truce of a house could be (wind in them. In one
hue ugh, in par:ieulsr, Alidloirst, he had often ob-
served several stones marked I. 11. 111. IV. as.e. in the
park-wall of a Noble Lord, then in his eye (laird
antagur). Hating asked what the meaning of them
v. as, he had h-en they were—rotes, and returned
rituathers to Parliament! lie immediately perceived
Cost they might he accounted precious stones, and
that the Noble Lord would not part with them fur a
great deal of money ; yet he (the Duke of Richmond)
could nut cousider them but as the glace-atones qfthe
e
" 3 he right of election was taken front the commt-
nity, in whieh it ought naturally to rest, and was
placed in the hands of a very mail number of indivi-
duals. Thus, not more than 14000 men returned a
clear majority of Members to the House of Cottonton'.
The number of males in linglauld and Wales (of adult
age, and in cir.:unistances which he conceived shuuld
entitle them to vote fur their Representatives in Parlia-
ment), he computed at 1,623,000; and yet the right
of essitag was., aLitreecut, couiined to 210,000.
TWa
surely," he insisted. " calletj loudly for-reformation."
.His Grace having expreseesl his admiration and de-
light at the Constimtion of the country as originally
designed, and explained what Parliament could do,
end what it could nut do, proceeded to unfold his
views and read his Bill, to show the ease with which
his plan might be reduced to practice.
immediately after the Noble Duke sat down, Lord
Stormont •expreaseil his disapprobation of the Reform
proposed, intermitted, however, with compliments on
the political awl eumetilittional knowledge displayed
bulb in the speech sail in the Bill hr had heard. " His
brace," he said, " had spoken with the highest en-
comiums of the Constitution. We know what it is
vow." oliserv.4 his Lordship, " but are we able to
s.ty what it may be, if we attempt Reforms ? he
Ruble Duke wishes, he asserts, to restore to all the
subjects the right of voting ; but is he sure they ever
were In possession of it ? '!'hose persons who extended
the right of voting for the principal magistrates in
/tome to all the subjects of the empire, were actuated
by views, of which the Noble Duke most be acquitted;
they were desirous to raise their fortune on their coun-
try's ruin. For these. and other reasons, he opposed I
the RIM"
The Duke of Richmond replied. and expressed a
desire that his Bill might be read once, for the pars,
pow of having it inserted in the journals ; and then.
he add. he would consent to withdraw it. The Rill
was neenedinely brought up and read; bat, as it then
became the Bill of the House, and consequently out of
his Oracles power to withdraw it, Lord Stormont pro-