that you are determined not to be the representatives of a small class, or of a particular interest; but to form a body, who, representing the people, springing from the people, and sympathising with the people, can fairly call on the people to support the future burthens of the country, and to struggle with the future difficulties which it may have to encounter; confident that those who call upon them are ready to join them heart and hand: and are only looking, like themselves, to the glory and welfare of England. I conclude, Sir, by moving for leave to bring in a Bill for amending the state of the Representation in England and Wales.

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM BILL FOR ENGLAND. June 24, 1831.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL moved, that that portion of his Majesty's Speech which related to the question of Reform in Parliament should be read.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL: I rise, Sir, for the purpose of moving, in the name of the Government, a measure which, in their opinion, is calculated to maintain unimpaired the prerogatives of the Crown, the authority of both Houses of Parliament, and the rights and liberties of the people of this kingdom. Sir, in rising to make this Motion, I cannot but ask, recollecting what took place on this subject in the late Session of Parliament, that I may have the benefit of a patient attention during the explanation I shall endeavour to give of the general principles of the measure which his Majesty's Ministers have thought it expedient to propose. I trust that on this occasion gentlemen will so far favour me as not to repeat the cheers and gestures with which they thought that this measure was at once to be driven out of the House, and scouted by the ridicule of the great party that was here congregated and banded together against it. Whatever may be its reception, I

feel strongly this, that his Majesty's Ministers have neither yielded nor abated their endeavours in consequence of the opposition they have encountered; that neither the taunts nor the jeers with which the first proposition was met in no measured manner, nor the libels with which the measure itself was disfigured, nor the fair and able opposition which was made to it in this House by men of weight and talent, nor those more dangerous weapons, unwarranted and slanderous as they were, which imputed to the Sovereign of these realms a will different from that of his constitutional advisers-I say, Sir, that none of those obstacles, powerful as they were felt to be at the time, have prevented the Sovereign, or his Ministers, or the people, from pursuing that object which has been considered as dear at once to those who wish to live according to the ancient rules of the Constitution, and to all those who are sincerely attached to the rights and liberties of the people of this Empire. Of the conduct of the Sovereign, or of that of his Ministers, it would not become me to speak; but I cannot proceed farther without saying in a few words how much I admire, as worthy of all praise and glory, the conduct of the people of England; and I say this without any reference to the merits of the measure itself, which, however, has successfully undergone the great test of national approbation. If this measure was of that character which it has been untruly represented to be, the praise and glory due to the people of England would still be the same; for in the sacrifices made, and the devotedness shown by the humbler classes of the community in the pursuit of what they thought their duty to their country, they have set an example of which England may well be proud to the latest generations. It has been said that the late elections were not governed by reason but by passion. That they were conducted under the influence of passion I do not deny, but it was that noble passion, the love

of country, and under its influence the whole population of this empire have exhibited an animation and enthusiasm which led them to forget all their own petty interests wherever the public good was concerned. Nothing but a passion of this kind could have persuaded men, with only the income of a few shillings a day, to resist all the bribes that temptation offered to their acceptance-to give up, after all that was insinuated upon the subject, the possession of a privilege which they had enjoyed, and which they were told their children ought to enjoy after them-a valuable privilege too-for the sake of what? For the sake of a measure which was not for their benefit, but for the future benefit and welfare of millions of the inhabitants of this kingdom. This must have been a lesson to those who despise the people, and who never speak but with disparagement and contempt of the lower classes. It is a lesson which I should have thought would have operated sooner and more powerfully than it has done, and would have taught such men not to speak of any classes of his Majesty's subjects in a manner from which the heart of his Majesty himself would recoil; for, whatever may be the situation of any man, be his gains what they may, if he is pursuing a course of honest industry, if he acts independently and conscientiously, even though he be mistaken, is he not as much worthy of respect as the proudest or the most opulent of those who justify by their conscientious opinion their opposition to the measure I have now the honour to bring before you.

I shall now proceed to speak of the measure itself. The features and details of that measure I shall not think it necessary to enter this day particularly into, because they are the same as those of the Bill that was before the House during the late Parliament; and as the slight improvements which have been made are solely

intended to carry into effect the principles of that Bill, I think it will be quite sufficient if I leave the consideration of all the details of the measure till the period when this House shall have sanctioned the Bill by a first and second reading, and shall be about to consider it in a Committee. But although I do not feel it necessary now to explain these particulars of the Bill, yet I do think that when this House, having been called together for the purpose of considering this great question-a question affecting deeply and entirely the constitution of the House itself—I do think, I say, that it will be respectful to the House that I should perform the duty of endeavouring to lay before it, in some manner, a statement of what the principle of representation has been, what it is under the present existing state of the law, and what it will be, generally and largely speaking, under the provisions of the measure which we now propose.

If we go back to the origin of representation, we shall find, without entering into the circumstances of Europe, which at that time were the cause of many changes, that the towns and cities of Europe grew into importance, that in some countries-as, for instance, in France and Spain-representative assemblies were formed; while in others-as in Germany and in Italymany towns enjoyed an independent Constitution of their own. With respect to our own country, there was no regular or defined representation of certain cities and boroughs in this House; but the Sheriffs received writs, directing them to send two citizens from every city, and two burgesses from every borough within their bailiwick, and they interpreted these commands as they found the cities and boroughs were capable of bearing the expense of sending Members to Parliament, or of contributing to the 1 revenue of the kingdom. I hold in my hand the statement of several instances in which the returns varied from

each other at different times on the account I have mentioned. In the reign of Henry VI., York and Scarborough sent Members, and the Sheriff returned that there were 'not any more cities or boroughs than these in Yorkshire' from whence Members could be sent to Parliament. In the same reign the same thing occurred with respect to Cornwall. The Sheriff returned Members from Launceston, Liskeard, Bodmin, Lostwithiel, Truro, and Helston, and then added to the return the words 'there are no other cities or boroughs within my bailiwick' that could send Members. In Lancashire the case was still more remarkable. In the 19th of Edward II. Lancaster was the only borough capable of returning Members. In the 1st Edward III. Lancaster and Preston sent Members; in a later period of the same reign, Lancaster again was the only borough that sent a Member; and in the 34th year of Edward III., the Duke of Lancaster, to whom the writs were directed, returned, that Lancaster was the only borough which in time past appeared to have sent Members to Parliament. In the 38th year of that reign, a similar return was made, and the ground assigned was the poverty of the boroughs, the words being 'propter debilitatem seu paupertatem.' That was the manner, Sir, in which, for about 250 years this House was constituted. Between 120 and 130 boroughs seem pretty constantly to have returned Members; thirty returned them from time to time only, and the Sheriff, in the manner I have described, took upon himself to enforce or dispense with their attendance. So that during this first period there was nothing more \ irregular or less settled than the right of boroughs to send Members to Parliament. The second period to which I shall refer extends from the reign of Henry VI. to that of the Tudors. During that period this House grew into importance and authority. It was then thought politic and useful, for the advantage of the Royal authority, that