The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-09-19 00:00:00

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PRICE

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exercised by .commoners in the sending of repro•
seritatiiee to Parliament are, therefore, fundamental'
principlea of our constitution ; but no countenance
is any where given to the opinion, that pstvrer and
the right of representation are capable of locality,
and 'independent of the. persons who ore to en seise
them. :Very different was the Oeinion of Kist
James the ht. who 4mnianiled the Sheriffs to direct
no precepts-to decayed borolighs. 'Very different
too was this °Pinion of those with whom the last • .
originatedOkat Members of Parliament should last
by Wfsekea f .Tieeraganter Will ecom:,..
*plat Ib argement.
With, respect fo thi;. oficitrri In the
army and navy„. I shall only ebietve, that if thee
were freely Chosen by tie people, ithci eve the belt •
*id! Only proper jadgen of the petioni by whoa:
they, wish to beseried„.no objection could justly bo
math to them.. -But if they.are not freely clioica
•by the people, many. ohjectroni readily nicer par: ' •
ticularly this wee, that theYhave such important
and fiber-1004104 to perform elsewhere; that it is
imposisble• tot them, to give due attention to the
Public service in the House of dommods. The same
remark applies to miens* liwyers. •
I have lastly to reply to your observations on the
value of seats in the !louse of Commons: it is an
honour to ank many to be thought diligent, trust.
worthy, and 'capable of conducting impoitant at.
fairs, and very valuable to him to have honest testi.
worry of his possessing such qualities ; and as Ono
testimony may be received from the voice of Lit •
country at a free election, and giien to the itorld by
himself in his own parliamentary conductl beiides; ,
his labours tking amply requited by conscious feel.
ings of patriotism and integrity, it is evident that •
seats in the House of Commons ought to have
real .value of the highest nature. But under the,
present system all this is lost. A Member either
has his seat given to him by his friend, the Borough
Proprietor, or he buys it for money. In either
cue does he.receiie any favourable testimony horn
, his country; and what proof of merit can hie sub.
savant conduct afford, slime his vote tenet 'be em.
ploycd either to secure the patron:4e and iegard. of
the person on whom he is dependent, or to procure
him compensation for his expence in acquiring tho'
unlawful power to give it I allow of some splett.
did exceptions ; but these ate the reasons why men,
who have found their way into Parliament by per.
chase, or patronage, are generally distinguished
either for their base and tacit subserviency, or fur
a profitable perversion of talent and profligacy of
character, destructive to the public service. It
seems indeed more likely that money should be laid. ,
out in a profitable speculation than in the puitbese •
of honour. The purchase of hotiOar by money! jr
surely this is something new in the annals of chi...,
valry : it is at least new to Inc to hear of allastions
being called honourable, because it is usual
1 them like merchants' goods for a certaikprice. li,
it should be urged that the borough patrtins have Ali
interest to scree the country; and that they will.not
neglect the common goot4 though they intend to
gain some pri?ate advantage from their boroughs.
would-answeb first, that the common good ought
not to be at their disposal ; and next, that it is nor' ,
always the practice to sell aeati.to relations
friends, or persons whose integrity` and characteC;
arc known, but frequently to those strangers whO
are willing to pay most. The way to Parliament 1,
is, therefore, as open to the dependent's agents; ,
and spies of foreign Courts, as to English Gentle.
men. Mr. PITT alarmed, that in his time the Na.
bob of ARCOT had net less than seven oreight Mem.,
bcrs in his pay ; and what ii to prevent the hirelinga,
of some European power from using the same means
to acquire the same places ? To• u'se Mr. PITT':
words, " May not a foreign state, at comity with
this country, by means of these boroughs, procure
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party of men to act for them under the mask and,
character of Members of the House of Commons ?"
Do you not start at the possibility of such a thing ?
a possibility, however, which arises from the way
to Parliament being open to monied adventurers:
In these several ways, the Ilouse of Commits iti
contaminated, debased, and subjected to the domi.
tuition of a faction of I3orough.mongers, invested
oith an unlawful power to command 4majority, and
using that power, both to nopress the people, and.
to insult and fetter the lawful prerogatives of the
Crown. It is the KING'S right to choose his Minis.
ters wheresoever lie thinks proper, without any
controul, but that which comes from the common
opinion of the which realm ; and It is the interest
of the People that he shotild have the widest range
for his chtilce, in 'order that he may have a beitit
chance of finding able lid honest men to.earry on
his government. But liOot Ni fiis A EST IO
eke his right ut choosing ? It js not .the common
assent of the %!tols realm; Gdt the assent of tho

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