The Statesman.
London, England, 1822-06-25 00:00:00

had devoted their attention to that subject, and
with still less disposition to blame the people them
selves for confining their efforts to the getting rid
of the pressure of these enormous establishments upon
them—yet, netertbeless, it appeared to him, that Ise
should not be doing his duty to the people, or following
the exampled the free constitutional measures of their
ancestors, if he did not propose to the House to take a
view of the most pereicions consequences of such jo-
in the establishments, and its worst possible
effect upon the welfare and happiness of the coon-
' try. He meant its tendency to add to the power of the
Crown, and to break down the balance of the Constita-
tion by abridging the influence of the people. It was
, with a view to supply this, the only defect whirls he bail
observed in the conduct of his side of the House during
the last five years, that be had taken the liberty of giving
notice that be should bring the subject forward. He
should have begun by requesting that there might he
read the celebrated resolution of the Ifith April, 1780,
did he not know that it would be present to the nand of
every one as soon u-the subject was pronounced. He
should therefore proceed at once to compare the state of
the Constitution at the present moment to what it wet
at the time when the House of Commons thought it ne-
cessary to declare that the influence of the Croon had
increased. and ought to be diminished. Ile must first,
however, advert to language which he had heard in that
House, and which was repeated as often as the question
was broached. It was asked whether Gentlemen on the
other side. who held their seats by virtue of certain ser-
vices and places, would so far forget what was due to
honour, as to vote differently upon any question from
what they would if they did not bola such. places.—
Was it possible that Gentlemen of honour could be so
unconscionable, became, they happened by a concur-
-fence of circumstaotes—by mere accident, to bold
places of honour, of power, of emolument, (all things
indeed calculated to influence men's motives and
actions) wasPt possible that their 'clued judgment, and
its honest exercise, could be affected by such matters?
To say that they could, he was told, was the 'height of
extravagance and indelicacy.' " What !" it was said,
"could men think of nothing but sordid wealth and ti.t.
telly honours? Was there no sense of duty to them-
selves and to their country?" In the discharge of his
parliamentary duty upon this occasion, he should not
violate the regulations of the house, which forbade the
attributing Improper motive to Members, very naturally
Fr.-Tuning that all motive for their conduct must be'
pure. With the private character and the personal con-
duct of no man lied he a right to interfere. But be
Lail a right to maintain, and a duty to perform—that
ditty he would perform, although it might least to the
extravagance of asserting that Placemen would lean we'
those at whose will they held their places ; that Pea.
signers would look to their emolument; and those who
possessed power would think of the means of retaining
it;--when they had to give a vote which went to sup-
port or destroy their various and combined interests.—
And he spoke the language of the Constitution when be
orenoonred Plaremeo, as such, to beobjects of mistrust;
and when be said that Parliament bad prescribed them
from receiving its confidence as Placemen. This squeam•
ishness at hearing the known truth only rose up within
memory —aye, within his own memory. The language
of Parliament had always been the very opposite of it till
within the last three or four feats ; a .d he feared that
it was only from the increased justness in the application
of the old language, that this modern sensibility hail
arisen. In the very worst times of the Constitution it
Lad been said that placemen were to be watched as to
their conduct, and lessened as far as possible in their
numbers. He need only appeal to the resolution of
17t.40, to establish his proposition as to the manner in
which Parliament bad felt and expressed itself upon this
topic ; but it was also desirable that the House should
Lave their memories refreshed as to the manner in which
it hal been trcated upon other occasions. The first one
wins resolution which immediately followed that of 1780,
declaring the necessity of having yearly accounts of the
expenditure laid before the House "for the sake of
preserving the purity and independence of Parliament."
So as for that purity not to be corrupted, and for
that independence not to be attacked by the influence
of the Crown. He should then refer them to the
stet& a, and there would be found a law for excluding
contractors, in order to preserve the independence and
freedom of Parliament. What was this but saying to
every Contractor, as be would say to every Placensan—
" Too do not vote as you would if you were not a Con-
tractor, or if yon were not a Placeman?" lie next re-
ferred to the Act of Settlement. which provided that as
soon as the settlement 17.0u1d be established, and the
secession of the House of Brunswick ensured, no place-
men should be allowed to sit in Parliament. He was
aware that this was afterwards repealed. and that the
statute of Anne was substituted in its place, by which
certain placemen were admitted. There was the Ist of
George, the first also which extended the admission to a
certain description of pensioners. He would not weary
the house by enumerating the various Ache to shew
what had always been the practice of the best times of
the Constitution ; hut go to the important resolution of
1693, which led to the first Place Bill. That Bill, bay-
ing
-passed both houses of Parliament, was lost by the
refusal of the Royal Assent. A resolution of the house
was then carried by a very large majority, declaring
that the persons who advised such a refusal were the
worst enemies to their Majesties. Having thus endea-
voured to justify his title to impeach the conduct of
Members of Parliament who were placemen, as being
influenced in their support of Ministers, as well by them-
selves as by their friends and relations; and to say that
their admission was a breach of the independence of
Parliament; lie should proceed to shew the increase in
the influence of the Crown since the passing of the re-
solution of 1780. He knew of no other means of shelv-
ing that increase than by a reference to the enormous
increase in the expenditure of the country. He must
therefore beg the House to look at what the establish•
incnts were when that resolution was come to, and com-
pare thew to those of the present tine. The whole ex-
pense of the 0%11 Government in 1780, was 1,130,000 t.
'flint, it ould be receected, was a time of war, and
the militM: and naval expenditure for this country
end Ireland, amounted to 14 or 15 millions. The col-
hction and management of the Revenue cost 2,225,000/.
So that including every
.particle of expense which could
be inn .t reed, the whole civil and military expenditure of
the country amounted to no more than 18,000,000/.
Now her the Wrote see bow the patronage of the Crown
stood with regard to the comparative expenditure over
which it exercised controul at the present period. The
civil and military expenditure of the country, independ-
ent of the expense of the culocies, now amounted to
twenty-seven millions and a half. The whole expentli-
tnre of the colonies could not he estimated at less than
a million sterling, which made the whole expenditure
at the present time 2.5.1,5011,900/. instead of eighteen mil-
lions as in 1780. Lot it should be remembered that
this was a peace revenit • and expenditure, an i that the
other was in a time of war. If, therefore, they looked
to what would have been likely to he the pece esta-
blishment at that time, it would be found not to have
exceeded, in all probability, the amount of seven mil-
lions. In fact, that was the permanent establishment
agreed to after the close of the war io 1791. Taking,
then, the permanent peace establishment at that time,
and compsring it with the permanent peace establish-
ment of the present, the latter would be fund to have
increased four-fold. They were therefore to considerthr
influence of the Crown to be quadrupled in point of
money. and in the number of persons holding places un-
der the Crown, as their employer. now ILL:Ch mar

THE

were they called upon, if they Weed the balance of the
1 powers of the Constitution, and if they valued the inde-
pendence of Parliament—how lunch more were they
celled upon than their ancestors of 1780 to declare, that
the increased influence of the Crown ought to be di-
minished. It might be c bjected to his calenlatiod, that
the patronage of the same quantity of money was more
valuable at that period than now. To prevent all cavil
of that nature, be would say that one pound the.. was
worth two now, and then the Crown would have a dou-
ble patronage now upon the Increased amount of re-
venue. If they took the number of mew employed
by the Uovernment, they would find it &tablet
They would find the proportion of increased indo-
'nee going on in all its various branches.—(Hear.)
The number of men raised in the year 1780, was 36.1410
English troops. He was aware that there was a sitbsi-
diary army of thirty thousand. But influence could
only be given by the appointment of British subjects.
He apprehended that it could rot for one moment he
segued that paying the Landgrave of Hesse could be
any source, of 'support to the Crown. The number of
British officers then employed was two thousand. Now
there were eight thousand -three hundred officers in the
British service; and if he included the ten thousand'
eight hundred upon the half-pay, the whole would
amount to upwards of nineteen thousand. In 1780 the
naval officers were one thousand eight hundred ; now
they were right hundred; but if they took the half-pay
there would be seven thousand. Would any one be pre-
pared to say that this was not an increase of the inflti•
ence of the Crown? Aod when they had seen what bad j
lately been done towards an officer ea half-pay for con-1
duct opposed to Ministers out of the* house—and per-
haps to that house—be would ask whether a Governmentl
possessing such a power of patronage, extending over
all the principal families in the kingdom, without any
control over its conduct except the vague and undefin-
able power of that house, where the &ceases themselves
sat, and many of the officers who den at the mercy of
the same beck and nod of the Minister, could be likely
to preserve the balance of the Constitution? There was
another head upon which be would S'Ael, the immense
increase of influence which the Crown had acquired.
The Colonies bad increased from the period with which
he was comparing the present to the number of twenty-
nine. But he would say what the difference of the Co-
lonial establishments was since the year 1791, when the
permanent establishments were fixed. Twelve Colonies
had been added to our possession since that time, and
merely in taking the Staff appointments is those Colo-
nies, it would be found that there bed ben added one
hundred and fifty places to be holden at the pleasure of
the Crown. The civil pieces had increased in propor-
tion. In six Colonies the civil places had been all added
since 1791, and upon the whole they gave an increase of
five hundred civil places. Since die year 1780 the in-
crease of civil and military offices together, exclusive of
the common regimental appointments, amounted to eight
hundred and upwards, But this was merely upon the
Colonial patronage independent of all other great sources
arising from the collection and management of the Re.
venue. This was only an off-set from the main hank,
and it placed under the unexamined control of the Crown
an account of no less than eight hundred employments.
He would venture to say that If this increase were com-
' pared to any which had taken place in 1780, even from
the year 1630, the earliest period at which we had colo-
nial possessions of any importance—the latter would
shriek into nothing. In this calculation of the increase
of Crown influence be did not Whirls any patronage of
the offices under the East India Company; because the
Crown certainly did not possess the full patronage of
those places. But when he considered that the Company
bad been brought much more under the control of the
Executive, by the regnlations mildest the time of the Ame-
rican war, he could not consider it es being entirely inde-
pendent of the fioneratimat Steedhisteaseof places in this
department was enormous. .11n the sear 1793, the whole
number of appointments including Cadets and Assist.
ant Surgeonctes was 123. In ISM they amounted to
527. By the arrangements which had since been made,
giving the Government greater power over the depart-
ment, it lied obtained one-fourteenth of the patronage.
Supposing this to have existed in 1791, which he believed
it did not, the influence would have increased from the
proportion of nine places to 33, being four-fold. This
patronage of 38 places would seem very little after the
WO to which he lied alluded. But when it was consi-
dered that these wete annual appointments, it would be
seen that they were equal to 400 ordinary places. There-
fore in the East and West Indies the amount of the mass
of new places created since the year 1780 amounted to
1200 and odd. But the grand increase undoubtedly was
at home. In die management and collection of the re-
venue there was an increase of fourfold. In 1780 that
expense was less than a million, whereas it now amount-
ed to four. Another circumstance to which he should
allude as tending materially to extend the influence of
the Crown was the Debt itself. The interest of the
debt at the time he originally referred to was only six
millions; and now, including the charge of manage.
went, it was nearly fifty millions. The emoluments in
the power of the Crown by this vast increase were
made to operate in many various ways. But without
going into the particulars of those laws arising out of
the debt, or those arrangements which behampered and
beset every branch of commerce itself, it was evident
that (justify or excuse it as they would) the result
was to place all traders without a single exception com-
pletely under the power of the Officers of the Crown.
A trader might act prudently or warily in the course of
his traffic, but be he ever so
.prudent or wary he could
not always avoid the snares laid by the legislative traps
of the revenue. Whatever might be bis skill lie was
most likely to come in contact with that frightful code
which contained so many pits literally yawning to re-
ceive him. This came within the experience of many in
that (louse; but to gratify the curiosity of those who
might not be acquainted with the subject, Le would il.
lustrate his statement by a few exanoiles. Ile might al-
most take them at random. Ile would begin with the
rewritee laws respecting soap, and he woulriefei: to part
of a section in an Act regulating the duties upon that
article. It would thew the prying eye, and the skilful
though somewhat rude band of the Government. And
here he would remark, that the Excise Laws were generous
in one respect, for they had little to do with fractions.
They d ealt in penal round numbers:4A laugh.) Ile found
by the section in question, that no maker of soap should,
under a penalty of 5001. have any pipe or other convey-
ance for the removal of lees ; or use any cock, crane,
syphon, or other means of conveyance of the lees from
e. . e copper. Nay, the lees was forbidden to perforate.—
(A lungli)—and the only means of conveyance allowed
by thelaw was a pump. But by a singular regard for
the soapmaker and his lees, the former was allowed the
privilege of a ladle.—;Lang liter.)—There ties a penalty
of 5001. imposed for making a hole in the copper for the
purpose lie bad mentioned. But this legislation led ta
A difficulty which was no other than tin, :—the lees, it
not al:owed to escape in sonic way or .dher, would ex
)dude and disappoint the imposers of the tax. And there-
fore by a singular degree of accuracy and of tendrtness
towards the soapmaker (who Was treated just as a colt ut
of fennel in aid of time Revenue,) lie was allowed to
at the head of his copper. Notwithstand ne
ke
small holes
nes4
the previously exposed general abhorrence of holes, a•
tore had successfully advanced her claim, and the scamp-
maker was allowed to bore small holes, one eighth of do
inch each in diameter.—(d faugh.)—But this was on
to prevent explosion.—(Lateghter.)—lt would be ends
less to attempt adducing instances upon all subjects con-
nected with the Revenue, hot he could not refrain from
just mentioning the tax upon Salt; in the collection of

which there was more oppression exercised than had
ever before been invented. The sacred -stone of
the 'pipit was in laying down penalties to throw the
borthen of extent; alive proof as touch as possible on the
accused. An informer who, in all other countriee, was
considered a suspeeted person, was, in the Court of Ex-
chequer received very favourably, and his evidence con-
sidered as a thing ut course. Another instance of the
system of controul exercised by Hovernment, was to he
found in the Glass Laws for there was a separate code for
almost every article. That law by a singular regard for
mathematics, declared that the plates atioahl be made
rectangular, %nth the sides and ends perpendicular; for
such was the atcheineticel areurracy of the Ex-
cheque r. And, under a penalty of one hundred
pounds, the sides were also to be parallel with each
other, in default of which the offender, who most have
committed an insposeihility to respect this law, would,
as he before observed, incur a penally of one hundred
pounds. This provigian would be found in an Act pass-
ed in the 51st year of the reign of the late King. The
greatest possible power was also elven over persons who
had offended, or were likely to offend against the Reve-1
nue Laws. A Bill had one morning, at two o'clock,
been quietly brought into that house, giving a power to
relieve offemlers against the Revenue Laws, even after
conviction. This Bill heel passed into a law, and had
put the finishiug hand to the sys'.'em of controul he bad
alluded to. Another instance of this was to be observed
in the Act against mixing ale and table beer intended
for sale. He knew of the information on that Act which
contained in one runt a claim fur 103 penalties of MIL
each.—(Hear, bear.)—The changes had been rung five
times upon twenty, and had thus threatened to over-
whelm the defendant. The number and amount of these
penalties were such that human nature could not stand
the trial; and in nine eases out of ten the defendant
gave in. He by no means intended to say that it was
seriously proposed to exact all these penalties; but the
suing for them drove theta into submission. Thus the
increase of the revenue became necessary by the increase
of the debt; and the threatening of the people with the
isfractien of revenue lows, which few of them under-
stood, made almost every trailer a suitor to the Crown,
and sent many more Members of Parliament than were
usual u applicants to the Treasury, and, as a conse-
quence, the direct influence of the Crown was increased
in the worst possible way. The inflnenee, too, was much
better arranged than it was formerly; the real w-igbt
of the us Ras considerably increased; and the
Treasury got its long arms into every public de-
partment. It interfered more than it had ever done
before; and in support of this assertion he bad oe'y
to refer to the shifting of the Excise and Customs'
patronage to the Treasury; and the compensation,
as it was called, to the two former in the shape of
increased salary. It was perfectly true that we had
come down from an expenditure of 132 millions, to the
comparatively moderate, but nut insignificant, sum of
seventy-seven millions. But the close of the war had
not brought a reseation of its ordinary effects; for many
people were still looking up to the Government, as their
first " Ways and Means."—Formerly the people of this
country were not accustomed to look for a part of their
income from the public purse. They were accustomed
to look upon their industry as the source of their in-
come; but they had acquired vicious habits in the pur-
suit of army and navy appointments, writerships, cadet-
ships, and situations of all kinds and irises from the
highest, which were good enough to tempt the highest
families, to the lowest, which were accessible to those in
the lower classes. This state of dependance, he was
sorry to say it, was deeply rooted in the higher classes.
It had become a habit to look to the Court for the means
of subsistence. Though the amount of our expenditure
was a little diminished, the habit, the straggle, and the
subserviency continued. When all those were taken
into consideration, he thought that if Parliament had
reason to pass the Resolution of 1780, it had now much
stronger reason to echo it. If those who adopted that
Resolution were now alive, they would not be contented
with re-affirming it; but would follow it up with mea
sures of a most searching and decisive nature. Mr
Dunning had spoken of " the corrupt pecuniary in-
fluence which prevailed within those walls." He had
said that " he knew fifty Members of that House who
held opinions in that House opposite to those for which
they voted within the House." He added, If you
goad me I will name them;" hot nobody challenged
him. The predecessor of the Right Honourable Gen-
tleman in the Chair had said, that he felt bound
as an honest man to say, that the influence of
the Crown had increased beyond the idea of that
of a limited monarchy. There was another opi-
nion, and one of a man who was no vehement patriot,
or one who was particularly conspicuous in obstructing
the measures of Government; he meant Mr. Justice
Blackstone, his opinion anterior to the American war.
Blackstone stated that, in his opinion, the Bill of
Rights and other advantages we had obtained since the
Revolution, were more than counter-balanced by the
vast force of influence derived from the Riot Act, the
Standing Army, and the increased National Debt. At
the present moment we bad not only the Riot Act, hut
six other memorable Acts; an army, not only of 17,1110
men, which was its amount when Blackstone wrote, but
of 90,000 men; and a debt of 800 millions instead of
130 millions. Could the House, therefore, possibly
doubt, that if Mr. Dunning, Mr. Justice Blackstone,
and Sir Fletcher Norton had to revise their opinions,
they would now hesitate to re-enact their former mea-
sures? He now came to consider the answers usually
given to those who contended that the influence of the
Crown had improperly increased, 'l6e late Mr. Rose
had admitted that 1,500 new places had increased, bat
then he urged that 500 had been abolished. The places
increased, however, averaged 300/. a year, while those
abolished averaged but 50!. r.-year. Since Mr. Rose's
time many augmentations had taken place in the outubm
of places. The next answer was, that there were fewer
placemen in that House then, than there were in 1780.
At that time there were between eighty and ninety ; be
would say ninety, for the benefit of the argument, to be
held by the opposite side of the House; by the returns
laid before the House it appeared that there were now
about eighty in that House. He protested, however,
against the argument to be drawn from this fact. It
was not of the number of placemen actually in Perna-
went that he complained ; it was of the number of per-
son! purchased at elections and county meetings. To
him it was of little matter whether the man who was
corrupted held the office himself, or was influenced by
one who did. The appiicatiou at the Treasury in the
morning was always accatnpanieil ith an understood
promise of the vote is the evening, no matter on
whose personal behalf the applicatiou was nbile. TM-
her of placemen in Parliament had been consider-
ably reduced he fare they ear I 7811; but the Have did not,
on that account, stop shaft when the Resolution of that
dry was offered for their consideration. The Lords had
souse time before the Acts limiting the number of place
men, deviated that the moither of the, in that Boute
was not less titan between two and 311 d. And yet th.
Howie ii,d not hesitated to resolve that the influence ot
the Crown ought to be diminished. The principle wa (aril I
the same, and it ought to be followed by the same remedy.
He now came, and with some pleasure, to the last of the
answers given to the present argument. It was the
often repeated answer respecting " the right working of
the system." It was said that notwiflistanding all these
facts, we enjoyed as much practical liberty as was possi-
ble, and that Parliament was as independent as under al'
the circumstances was necessary. But they had all wit-
nessed the corduet of Parliament. They knew that who
ever was the Minister, and whatever.be proposed, ;'s

.

House uniformly support d the person and the measure,
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in
to
one; but it was said at that time that this was owing to
the hireilitery greatness of his name, his own spleedid
talents, and bin iiiiimpearbed personal integrity, pan
he went ont of offic-, he was sacceeded by oils who r,.
senthled him in mot little circumatauce. It was that of
being Chief Minister. It was then found that this ei..
cumstanre was the greatest point in Mr. Pitt's farm:
indeed, the only one es I kit rendered him desirable. Per
on the very first trial of strength between hint and Mr.
Addington, the Hoes. of Cuomo, a was Paddy pot to
the test. Mr. Pitt said to them—" No wore Il4;terf ;no
y
rades to my
s the
isqiutaenurseiri.test)e.ilo Urnn.rigatissist nn.,
di ni
e Addington facrOboseiu ern'oOr:oll t:heti
trei, voteurritavaritetr;i :rtegaueont
ad' nraweiratiiajoiti
'Chess
31, The
qnence ? Why, that 333 out of 4011 Members were free
e
f bu
ttn
k, bet
to confess that they preferred Mr. Addincon.—(Chtire)
Every thing was then forgotten—natne, ancestry, pope.
wen anti contractors, his Honourable Baronets, his
Knights of the Shire sod rotten boroughbolders. The
men whom he used to feed, to command and drag to the
vote from the highest to the lowest, all, yes, all of them
forsook him on die tint personal question of •nanfideace
between Mr. Addington and himself. The same awl
enameled polpnlarity of Mr. Addington ',site kiwi to he
an over-match for all Mi. Pitt's
were hut 56 faithful among the faithless; and these moos
fell down to 33. A. coeliti • a was shortly formed be.
tween Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and Lot.,
r.
AddingtOn made head against it for upwards of a year.
A change then took plan, but had his friends stood by
Mr. Addington he might have been Prime Minister at
that eery moment. It happened, however, that while
Mr. Fox was out of office ph -ere bestowed upon
him accusing him almost of actual rebellion. It wss
hopeless fur Mr. Fox to attempt to make head against
the Minister; butt iu teat a new light broke in upon the
(Moose of Commons. Mr. Fox Cabo. into other, and a
man's coining into office was a eitcnnistaoce which the
house was almost must careful in observing. Nothing
was viewed with more anxious errs than the conduct of
a man the day before and his conduct the day after his
becoming a Minister. The moment the Gazette an-
nolinced this fact there was a charge in tier vision led
understanding of the house. In March lbll6 the hone
had no objection to Mr. Fox or his principles; ash it
followed him in the same numerical force in which it
had followed his political opponent. The house refused
to censure the appointmeut of Lae: I Ellenborongh to a
seat in the Cabinet, a measure of which he haul expressed
his disapprobation at the time. though he mentioned
this merely to shew that he did not notice the circum-
stance for the mere purpose of bin argument. The
house, however, was an animal of lunch foresight, and
particularly celebrated for its obduracy against all mem
not in the enjoyment of office. Foe the Resolution of
Censure in question only sixty-fire voted against Mr.
Fox, a remarkable nuteeher; for it was about that
which had voted with Into just before his entry into
office. His being in office turned the tables upon his
adversaries; and upon this piuchiog test 2-22 voted
with him. Ile should be much interested in hear-
ing any explanation of these votes ; but at present
he should come to but one conclusion respecting them.
Having noticed the conduct of a Parliament formed
under Tory auspices, he came to consider that of the
Whig Parliament of 1606. In the interim there bad
been a great change ; a purgation, as it was formerly
called : and confessed that he thought the latter worse
than the former Parliament. A difference of opinion
had been strongly expressed at the beginning of the
new Whig Session, and had been strongly expressed by
a Right Honourable Member (Mr. Canning), who par-
ticularly condemned the administration of foreign
affairs.—Tbe new Opposition, however, felt themselves
too weak to divide, and they would not therefore expose
their weakness. The Army Estimate', Sir Samuel
Romilly's Bill for reforming the Law, and other mea-
sures passed without any numerical trial; but in the
course of the next spring, on the question of the Hemp-
shire Petition, ti e new Opposition thought that flesh
and blood could bear it no longer, and they determined
menially to come to the vote, though they knew it
would e.xpose their weakness. The numbers were
to 57 ; and after this they were slow at dividing. The
12th of March of that year was a critical day, and he
begged the House to bear it in recollection: there had
been rumours abroad, and the Members were on the
look-out; they thought all was not right, and that it
was much better for them to remain 9utet, and bold a
snug sail, lest they should fall in with quicksands.—
There had been birds of bad omed in the House. It
was thought, not that something was not as it should be
(for that was never cared about), but something not es
it had been. The Members were plain matter-of-fart
teen; and in deciding upon the conduct of others, the
only question was—" Are they or are they not in o de.e
In this most interesting state of speculation, Members
had a tendency to absent themselves; and it was sur-
prising to find the many calls into the country obi, la
were alleged in excuse for that absence. There were
journies for health, jonreies to see near and dear rela-
tives, and in observance of all those ties which booed
men at home when they had no wish to be abroad. M
length a remarkable paragraph appeared in the t,are/te.
The House immediately took observation, the 57 be-
came suddenly expanded to 15S ,• and upon the piestion
whether the late Ministry were deserving of confidence.
the House in substance declared that it never liked
them, was glad they were turned out; was delighted
with Lis Majesty for having turned then out; cad )et
had they been restored, there oould, no doubt, bare
been the same cautious observation, the same slack at-
tendance, and the same pouring in in scores afterwards.
ja'Nl°.ghoi acteieYntdhlajtaauttd-inait
eleo' uemrilrroeogadwinis,stedmi ftiotisL°lisaealyr;dssahtlii'atilrtrivSi
this
ibn"sed" oeur(xleitrdseetnonesrvtividl'el'el;iiioull.ti: oattldieh::Zele;.
was confined to the walls of that House. He ,mild pro-
ceed to chew its effects in other instances, and he would
proceed to notice. not a low Corporation, Out a rare.
venerable, and learned Body, which dispensed in a great
degree, tile blessings of education. He alluded to the
Learned University of Oxford. It had shewn a great
alacrity in speciesof ob tion be haul.mentioned; led
had long since washed &nay its polite al siem-(if any it
ever had) in an attachment to the exile,' l amily of.the
Stuarts. That for which hr most admired them was,
their election of lord Grenville to the Mein of l'hanrel-
lor of the university; but 'hist-lee:ion took place when
it was thought he was about to enter office, when a COl-
respenelenee had taken pine-. bAweec him and Werra-
uncut with a view to his forming part of the Administra-
tion. Tile learned hotly had its eyes upon this circum-
stance: hot the usual course was to wait for the Gazeltc-
-0-11i(.111. eivluerZaih.n)c—e.TTliebeNcOindeucL4t orfdthhiasillecLnoteir bonueodiloyuitillf
reference
able..e
a Ifaros. ogPetehrroecue Cvssaul:diaroscluil c;
measure.
question.tri ihe i wassiuver no
ti se
then re remark-triolpi
oo ot e lee
e
igeinst it. A fiame, in consequence was raised in I,
-nuatry, and its peace was endangered by those, who'
for a mere political purpose, raised an irrelieaus,
tta-
liristian, and brutal cry of "No Popery." Yes a few