The Statesman.
London, England, 1820-04-19 00:00:00

-TI IF. STATESMAN.

LT.-te itardiency of Paillarientari Reform hating become a
CO3:; eratlon'of very eariuna and extertaisd discussion, it
was .our object in the !IMMO STATIISII•6I to bare traced
the progress of pubic oPialini on this mach mmtested and ;
mvme;l:otris pJitt:. Paring the ensaina session of Perils-
turn% the ..t.etst cannot fail to excite throughout the I
cotintry add'•ioral dnd peceliar ir,•rest, from the recent
end lanirece&mted citeumitances in whieil it his been I
urged to vim,* parts of the kingdorr. and f-..nt the •
ntrasures that may be suggested to ternihmte its agliitiun.
It is therefore deemed terocolotb!e to euntintle our re ice
• of the %rounds matt Asp,. that had been preCously taken la
this 1r trAnt astion.l euctrover.y ; sad though some of
our rea.!ers may keeolieet the dm: nine number; 01' our
reinspect, tLtsy igith, we Host. out regret their rel.:11)5-
ettion STATESMAN. in ~..ter to preet.ree a coo.
section whit tite aeries that w1:1 instreciately fullow, and ,
to reader thihlskir:cal sketch complete.] I

TIM PRoußgs.l OF PUBLIC OPINION

- ON
PARLIVMENTSRY RC,ORM.
~. I. AND 11.

In form'sig a proviso and proper opin:on on the sub-
ject of Paritanientary Reform, it is desirable to be-
came acquainted with the progress of tlie public 'ea-
Unseat respecting it, as welt as the progressive
alterations that have taken plate in the constitution
of Parliareert itself. 'flu! necessity, of Iteforusatio.:,
and the expedience of any specific plan, which may
with that view be proposed, are points, indeed, that
should I.e determined &it their senarate and proper
ntrrits. it is the utility, and not the antiquity of a
political institution, that is its principal iecounneiti-
alien. A large, portion of that demociatic spirit
which imparts to our felluis-countrynien their energy
anti mental inulepundence, and to cur institutions
their activity and excellence, may be traced, with the
arrival of the Saxons, from the .o!:ter4 that were de-
veloped by '1 acitus, anti eq,hlApil hy the institu-
tions of Alfred. it is needless to inquire farther, or
wept, re minutely the constitution of our aaioual as-
semblies, that were convoked in early ages. Enough
is manifest to prove that a real representation of the
teuplo, as a constitutional part of the Legislative
Body, i., in this kinedi in, twit a mulls* claim, nut
Withal: a le,fitionate precedent.

So high and so exteti,ive nls the spirit raised by
the folly and fatality of the American w.tr, and the
nocunititutivnal principles of the Administration of
Lord North, that the must celebrated characters and
the greatest counties in the kingdom took the lead in
the asso.iations that were formed fur restraining the
abuses of Guvernmen•, and protivottng a Reform of
Parliament. Among the provincial as.ociations formed
at this period, that of time count• of York appeared
con :picomons wed prominent; headed as it was by their
distinguished Representative, Sir George Saville, and
composed of a body, which, fur intelligence, public
spirit, and general respectability, has seldom Lein
surpassed. On preventing their Petition to the House
of Commons, Sir George took ocrasiuti to observe, that
it was the resolution of a meeting, which, for worth,
and weight, and property, rivalled any meeting that
took place within the wails of the Mine which he ad-
d eased.

Nutt% iCistanding the democratic br•inch of Psalm-
! merit has ::Itrays heen considered Li.; of primary low
portanci, mid as the peculiar object ut popular pre-
; &retie.. and iolpport, it is worthy of ren:ark,
disputes conc,rninie the right of suffrstre were long
t.ll lit, Is, and formed an ineonsideralilit
stih.;ctt at rola:.•41 liken...ion in England. Frunt
Hen:y 111. to tieurge 111. the grand question depeadt
i Ij•.! en th.• (How a!i.i lie people lias continued
to be. •xl,et her t C.,ernmeent should be Parliao
ment.iry, or adtiiiiiisteicil a. c•odine to the judgmeld
of one or mote individcals, not atitenable to justice.
and ofte% tv't answerably LaJo public opinion for their
'counsels and measures. 'I his 4:tication is, in whet
words, it hether otitiptitur tt :'s of oar Com
stitution---.• a, Republic disguised AS 31onarchy," be a
just dc.:cription, and whether our Constitution is tol
br administered un the principles popular tiveern-
nieut,
,or according to the maxims of uneunicuttleg
Monarchy.

Seditious, as Mr. Pitt, in subsequi tit times, was fain
to reckon aNsociatiuns fur Parliamentary Reform, and
especially the ineetinga of delegates from such associa-
tions, they were then counters eiced and constituted by
the most diiitlisguirlied patriots of the day, and Mr.
Pitt himself was A delegate at the Meeting at the
Thatched House Tavern, composed of delega'es from
••those associations fur promoting a Reform in Parlia-
ment. From that tneetine emanated the plan of Par-
liamentary Returns, approved by Mr. Fox, aulpro-
in &dimmest by tar. tat. The object of this
ribernrre was to annihilate the decayed and corrupted
. boroughs of the kingdom, to allow Representatives to
unrepres?nted towns, which in modern times have be-
co i.e populous and important in the scale of Govern-
nrtit, and to increase the number of the Mambas
several of the counties. This object was proposed in
Parliament by Mr. Pitt, at different times and in dif-
ferent forms, and rejected but bY small niajorieLs.
gidaeral object was, at that period, iuuch more po-
pular among high politi..il men than at any time sub-
sequent or antecedent ; but then, as well as now, the
Whig Party were divided on .his important question ;
though they all agreed that the Government ought to
be Parliamentary, and that Parliament ought to be, in
its feelings and principles, popular. They had all
concurred, in the famous resolution of Mr. Dunning,
in I7SO, " That the influence of the Crown has in-
creased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished."
The interest and charges on the National Debt,
have, since the period of that resolution, been multi-
plied fourfild. 'the nava!, c.,ionial, and fis-
cal ntahlillituents have been augmented beyond ally
fanner example. Whether these augmentations are to
be regarded as proofs of the subserviency of Peale-
met., or only as sources of new influence to the Cron it,
it equally follows, that the principle of Mr. Dunning's
resolutions is inure strongly applicable to the present
state of the kingdont, thir. it was to that which sub-
:AAA forty ',errs ago.

This qiu.stion arose in the most atotioun theme ei
our tiovernment. It WAS agitated for agas-411400.

extrevAgitnt duatrinei tvere advanced;-wcieti:lloll4la-Q.
under t,:e Holm of Swim relative to Divine Right,
P.l%sive Obvilietice, and IndeCasible Inheritance. it
forms the indelible thitiuction between Whirl ifid

'Rorie-, and must continue to keep up similar patties
as lung a the British Cunstitution exists. In the
course of t hi: contest, the power of Ow purse wits
the only pacific means by which the House of Cum-
' moms cuuld establish or their authority as law-
givers, and their weight as Cuunbellers of the Crown;
and hence it has arisen that almost all our great dis-
putes have immediately turned upon questions of
pecuniary supply. On this ground all the battles of
liberty have been fought, from the grant of the
Great Charter to the declaration of .tuierican Inde-
pendence.
It was not till after the victory of the Parliament
user Charles the First, that symptoms of dissatistac-
tiou with t!!e Colmtittititai ut the 11. use of eUOIIIIOII3
began to inanife,d themselves. Complaints of the
state of the representation, and projecfs for its amend-
meta, were then employed by the agitators of the
Parliamentary army, as a means of depriving the
House of Common?, of the popularity which was its'
alight security again .he military busty. It was on
the 20th January, 1649, a few clays b fore the death
of the King, that the first plan of Parliamentary Re-
form was laid before the House of Commons, by some
officers of the army, under the alluring title of " An
Agreement of the People." It was composed by Ge-
neral Ireton, a memorable person of eminent capacity
fur civil es well as military affairs, and who did not
declare for a re,mbiic until he was persuaded that
Ci!arles had no intention but to regain by art what he
had lust in fight. In this paper it was propotgd,
that the Commonwealth should be governed bytes.
presentative assembly of four hundred persons, tri-
enially electe4l by all housekeepers assessed to the •
poor—not being servants or receiving wages. The
smaller boroughs (with some capricious exceptions)
Were to be thrown into the eountii s. 1 he cities and
more considerable towns, together with the unrepre-
sented towns of Alanchester and Leeds, were to have
separate representatives.
This was the first plan of Moderate Reform ; and
it was speedily succeeded by one I f a dillerent.de-
scririou. On the Ist of ,Sty, 1649, the Levellers,
as they were called, published, but did out present to
Parliament, (bur scheme of Parliamentary Reform,
by which, " all turn of the age of twenty-one years,l
nut receiving alms or being servants, were, ctecorefiNg
to matttral sight, to have a voice in the election of
Members of a Parliament to be annually chosen." This I
project, however, was disregarded ; and the print ple
of Ireton' s plan was adopted by Cromwell's Parlia-
ment, in 1654, but modified by the admission of the
former boroughs, and of the unrepresented town of
Halifsx. The Parliaments were to be triennial:
every man who bad a real or pers:nal estate of 20e1.
i was to rote in counties, in addition to the forty shit,
lin,z ; and the ancieta rights were pre-
served in cities and towns. ~His aeeond Pad /orient
was elected aczording to thrtaiNatints, which they slid
not alter.
It is remarkable, thin• y succeeding

. .
That the House of Commons has become less popu-
lar and more subservient to the Crown than the great
principles of the Constitution requirc, is indeed a pro-
po ition, about which there can be little difference of
opinion among the ardent and zealous friends of Li.
berty. Agreed, however, as the Whip were, respect-
, lig the nature, extent, and danger of the distemper,
they differed about the efficacy and safety of the reute-
dlr.. Many of them, persuaded that nothing could
counteract the influence of the Crown, but a }Rinse of
Commons formed on a wider bash., contended for
shorter Parliaments and more popular elections.
Others, of equal hotte.ty and judgment, were of opi-
nion, that short Parliaments 'i,iuld rather increase
than diminish the influence of the Crown ; and that
every change in the modes of elections, It ould prove
either in.ignincant ur dangerous.
Among the plans which had been procosed to ex-
tend the elective franchise, and to render popular elec-
tion consistent with the public quiet, were two, which
f6r several reasons are entitled to attention, in a Re-
view of the P.ogres. of Public Opinion on Parliamen-
tary Reform. The one is that of Mr. Hume, in which
the freeholders 'and inhabitants assessed to the pet*,
elect tlroge who are to name the members of the Su-
preme Council, and which was, in fact, *adopted in
another form in France, where,a popular body would
propose candidates, from whom a small number of the
most considerable proprietors would elect the Repre-
sentatives. Ihe c,thcr is the singular plan of Mr.
Horne t ooke, which proposed to give the right of rot-
,Mg to all persons rated to the land-tax or parish rates
zit 41. 21s. per annum, on condition of their paying to
the public 21.25. at the time of voting; but providing,
'that if the number of voters in any district fell short of
4404/U, every man rated at VA. per annum solglit give

SeJtala*llkltil Sl.e isnligain plt ilg.t A, kam
thnse subordiusite elecna
• .I
Lave little uccupied the attention of the great puliti- I, malting the saute rovision, in CASe of.the sane tit;ltee
years of agitation and change, this sublect
cal writers who at that time flourished ; and that, : far third, fourth, fifth, &c. votes for every a,taid,„. '.
notwithstanding the suercstio.ks which Milton, Har- , HMI. at which the voter is rated, till the nag,
and Sydney, had previously given, it should ; 44/1.14.: votes fur the district should he co
mpietei '
To the plan of Mr. Hume, as well al to that a•letted
beringtalrutmu.st unnoticed at the period of the Revolution. 1
After that glorious triumph, indeed, the public :tea- 'in France, there is doll insuperable objection 0,,1:..
lonely, fornaerlv
groat reason, to be turreted to the subserviency
confined to prerogative, began, with I leave, to the peovie way
"f 1 which can tee ire no interest in their minis, sal ahit,
Parliament ; but during the fifty years which ful- would cousetiutoitly fail in attaining one of th- -e;
lowed, the eune,lients pro:used fur the reduction of elpoi object% of popular elections. All seise:nes' ,a,
the growine influence of the Crown were curdy an separring the prJpesition of candidates fie ---1,1-.
abridgement of the duration of Parliaments, or the ex- oth e (rout th, ch,,tee of th,, oi.:er,, become
tralti,,
elusion of all, or of some, placenieu from the House 3 power of noirinazion in the proposers. ft is e4,t41
of Commons. f leave no cletic:.? to the eleetors. by coupling tae
avavret
The dispute with America about the connexion of candidate.; with none btat such -es are absolatelv inch.
Tim
Taxation and Representation, gave a nets importance ge, let tote object is c 0.., ton to theu
to these topics, and for tht: first time rendered them an] to that of Mr. Horne Tee Le. They 311 i a
the suhiect of public discussion. Lord Chatham's subjective. ele..tiotts to tin- joint inducts-ea priberty
Curious Apeirch in 1770. which proposed ..• tu infuse a and population ; in that of Mr. Too!.e the
,;(
new portion of health into the 6.mA:to on," by
.an wealth is augnitinted wider ;Ite preten.e of beano •
wing
addition to County Members, was the test stie.jestion suffrage .lutost universaliy.
of a specific Return, rn:nle ty a British state:wan in a This pLt of Mr. Home Tooke i.: las.eet
Glace of authority. Towards the end of tae American tit d
notie.• from the popular CJIII urrenee it obtained. Sam
war, the Government became generally unpopular,
from the ingenuity wit which it was reasstaeade ' and its discredit was j,astly snared by a compliant J.
, "it is said, '• observel the able and ace
Parliament. The Waite 41 blood and treasure ; tee
his letter to Lord AelAurton, " that L .1 prap,ser. iu
disgraee of our aims : tl.e debility and
distraction
of tat tee all vf teat taaa
is as dear to hint as the all of ameher loth iglu oa'
our councils, were generally, and not without reason,
other. Bet, my Lord, this alleles still no*. ladd .le;
imputed to the restoration of Toryism, and
. the un-
any means, for a snisll all is nut, for wry g„..1 r,iss,,,*
einuttitu::unal principles which had prevailed from
so dear as a great all. A small all ma: be lust anti the be6ttniotz of the reign. Asco:iations for re-
easily reini,ted: it Way very often, ate! rith rat
trenehment and ei•onomical Reform were adopted in
wi.doni, be
ri.fine-I tor
the
of
tir a
on.r..s.rt
it
nu,
the priucipal cuunties of Litgland ; and uu :hens, in
, be so small, as obe little, or not at an eni. h de/sno-
w:any places, acre grafted associations fur Pada-
ing or caring for. But a large all can terer Le re-o-
m:•ntarr Reform.
vered. It has been amassin r awl avniusultting, per.
haps, front fa her to sun, for mow Revert:..as; in it
has been the product of a long life of intlyn.c ail .A.
lents ; or the consequence of souse ein:unts ance *St ii
will never return. Bat 1 ant sure I need nut dad
upon this. lVithout placing the extremes of forne.e
in array against eanh other, etery lean whos• all b/8
varlad at different periods of his life, can speak to
himself, and say, whether the tleartos in ithiLh it
held these different ails was equal. The lowest ord.-
of men consume their all a il .), as fast 40 1101 :lune
it.

ply Lord, lattice and policy require besr.it
and bnrhen, that the share of power, smile skin of
~ontribution to that power, should be as antic rope.
fumed as possible. If aristoerAcy will hare poor,
they are tyrants, and UtliitAt It) title pc.11.1 ibetiLit
arit:ocracy alone does nut bear the r hole Isrtheu.
the smallest individual of the people vont, Os :a Le
equal in power to the greatest individusl, he too is. 1.:
his turn, nujust in his dent.iods ; fur his burit:a
contribution are not equal.

" Hitherto, my Lord, I hive only aqui attains!
the equoiitg: 1 shall now %entire w spnb stair:
the nnit•crraliiy of representation, or of a share in the
Government ; for the terms arnoun! to the same. Free•
dow and security ought surely to be equal and univer-
sal. Nut my Lord, lam not .tt all lac.lsrsta to ton.
tend, that some of the rnember•s of meaty na►y befit:
and •relre, without having a share in tie Gesermer.
Mfr Lord,, extreme Weer!, extreme &podium► ti-
tre's.. ignorance, extreme selfishness (I mean 11,:s-
-taken selfishness which excludes all public scan), al
these are proper cases of exclusion from' Ant is tie
Government, as well as extreme rtimiaalith Irkia is
admitted to exclude ; fur thither they all-trad, sal
there they frequently finish."
('I'D be continua.) •

M

DUE.
• Ilublln
U Waterford
I Guernir) and Jrney
• tionenlmingh
Ihrothuncli

ii.S.
lAnn. are.
0 Holland
0 Flanders
I 0 nine, 0
Lisbon
, 4) Malta

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