E

ARLY in the Session (7th Feb.) Mr. Brougham had directed the attention of the House of Commons to the state of the Common Law courts, and of the Common Law itself, in a speech which had been rarely equalled, either in the time consumed in its delivery, which is said to have been upwards of six hours, or in the miscellaneous variety of subjects, on which it touched. Professing to exclude from his consideration, for different reasons, Equity-law, Criminal-law, Commercial-law, and the law of Real Property, he examined the constitution of the Common-law courts, and the mode in which business was divided amongst them, and conducted by them; and, without much accuracy of detail, or profoundness of thought, or soundness of principle, contrived to detain the attention of his hearers by skimming over nearly all the topics of popular speculation, and trite complaint, connected with the administration of justice.

He concluded with moving, "that an humble address be presented to his majesty, respectfully requesting that it may be his majesty's pleasure to cause a commission to issue, to inquire into the abuses which have been introduced, in the course of time, into the administration of the laws of these

realms, and of the courts of common law, and to report on what remedies it may seem fit and expedient to adopt for their removal.” On the suggestion of the Solicitorgeneral, the further consideration of the question was adjourned for a fortnight. The discussion was resumed on the 28th of February, when the Attorney-general and the Solicitor-general pointed out the fallacy and errors of many of Mr. Brougham's notions and suggestions. All concurred in the opinion, that there was no subject more worthy of attention than the improvement of the law. The only question was, how improvement could be best attained: and it was very obvious, that the unbounded nature of the inquiry, which Mr. Brougham seemed to recommend, would prevent it from producing any practical good. In the course of the session two commissions issued: one to inquire into the state of the Common-law; the other to take into consideration the state of the law of Real Property.

This session of parliament was distinguished by giving birth to a variety of attempts, to alter, and, as was therefore supposed, to improve, the mode of electing members of the House of Commons. The House had before it, at one time, seven or eight measures all bearing

more or less directly on different parts of the system, In the preceding session an act had been passed, which, among other things, prohibited the candidates at an election from distributing ribbons. An at tempt was now made to repeal it, as being more injurious to the silk weavers of Coventry, than it could be beneficial to the constitution; but leave was refused to bring in The Commons having convicted the burgesses of Penryn, in Cornwall, of gross and prevailing bribery, passed a bill disfranchising the borough, and transferring its right of electing two members to Manchester: but the lords threw out the bill as not being supported by evidence of corruption sufficient to warrant disfranchisement. In the lower house East Retford, too,in Nottinghamshire, was found guilty of corruption, and a bill was brought in to transfer its franchise to Birmingham. The House, however, having resolved that instead of the borough being disfranchised, the right of voting should be thrown open to the adjoining hundred. Mr. Tennyson, who had brought in the bill, refused to take any farther charge of it, and the measure was allowed to stand over till next session, on an agreement that in the mean time no new writ should be issued for East Retford. In England there are many districts, which have been separated, at different times, from the counties to which they belong: the freeholders resident in them have thus lost the right of voting for the county members, without having gained, in several instances, the privilege of voting for the representatives of the boroughs to which they had been attached. Thus, Kingston upon Hull had been severed

from the county of York; and its freeholders could vote neither for the members for Yorkshire, nor the members for Hull. A bill was brought in to enable the freeholders of such districts to vote at the election of knights of the shire, for the counties from which they had been separated, but it did not make its way even through the House of Commons. A proposed bill for regulating the time and manner of admitting freemen in boroughs, was not allowed to be brought in; another for registering the voters in similar places was thrown out, after it had been brought in;-and the same treatment was extended to a third for registering the freeholders in counties. The House of Commons, however, passed a bill to prevent corporations from employing the corporate funds for elec tion purposes-a measure, which originated in certain complaints regarding the conduct of the corporation of Leicester, at the last general election; but the bill was rejected by the House of Lords., An act regulating the manner of taking the poll at city and borough elections, and whose principal feature was that it cut down the duration of the poll from fifteen days to six, was the only one that passed into a law.

The plan for a permanent settlement of the corn-laws had failed in the preceding session, in consequence of ministers giving up their bill, because an amendment, which they reckoned hostile to its principle, had been engrafted on it by the duke of Wellington. The subject was again introduced by Mr. C. Grant (31st March) on the very same principle, but with some alteration in the proposed duties. He would assume, he said, that the

House was inclined still to adhere to the principle which it had so distinctly adopted in the preceding session, viz. that agriculture was to be protected by duties, not by prohibition; whether these duties should be fixed or varying, if fixed, at what rate, and if varying, how the fluctuations should be regulated,-were points of minor importance. Government was still convinced, that a scale of varying duties was the best expedient for doing equal justice to all parties interested, but the rate of duties was to be subjected to some modification different from what the bill of last session had contained. On the failure of that bill, a temporary act had been passed, to continue in force till the 1st of May in the present year, permitting the importation of corn on the conditions contained in the bill which had been abandoned. The opponents of the bill had then predicted that the effect of this measure would be, to depress the price of British corn, and to bring Foreign corn into the market. He thought, for his own part, that both of these circumstances might be accounted for in another way; yet, it could not be doubted that they had excited very strong feelings, in the minds of those accustomed to indulge in such predictions. If it was just to take into consideration at all the alarms of those most nearly concerned, the necessity of consider ing them was strengthened by late facts. The House ought not to forget the fact, that, under a duty of 11. 2s. 8d., and a duty of 11. 4s. 8d., five hundred thousand quarters of foreign corn had, in the months of July and August last, been admitted into the market, and that, too, when the price of

British corn showed that no foreign supply was necessary. He was very well aware, that it would be in vain to attempt to convince by argument those who were interested, that this was not owing to the law; but he could convince them that the fact was not forgotten, and that the House meant to take it into consideration. It had been taken into account in the resolutions now to be introduced, and the duties at some points of the scale, would be found to be higher than those formerly proposed; an additional protection, in comparison with the bill of last session, being thus afforded to the agricultural interest. It was proposed that wheat should be subject to a dutyof 32s. 8d., whenever the price of British wheat was at 54s.; and it was also proposed that the duty should be decreased by 1s. for every increase of 1s. in the price of British wheat: so that at 56s. the duty would be 30s. 8d. This scale advanced by diminutions of 1s. in the duty for every increase of 1s. in the price, until the price reached 67s.; then by a diminution of 2s., until the price reached 69s. ; by a diminution of 3s.; until the price reached 71s. ; and by a diminution of 4s.; until the price reached 73s. It would be seen, therefore, that at 59s. and 73s. ; the scales of the two bills coin cided; but, as they proceeded by different means, the difference between them at the intervals was. considerable. The proposed scale was as follows:

Wheat-Imperial Measure.

they knew to be for the public good, to the partial views of a particular interest which they were afraid to displease. Every person who had opposed the bill of last session was much more bound to oppose the present measure, which avowedly receded still further from correct principle, and to oppose it on the admissions of the very men who supported it-that they themselves deemed it bad in proportion as it differed from its predecessor.

The resolutions moved by Mr. Grant were agreed to; but when the House went into a committee, Mr. Calcraft moved as an amendment, that the scale, which had been adopted by the House of Commons last year, should be substituted for that which was now proposed; and the amendment received the support of many members who were by no means disinclined to shew favour to the

agricultural interests. For, although the alterations in the present bill from that of last year, had avowedly been made for the purpose of conciliating the landed interest, by affording it greater protection, the effect of them, it was said, would be just the reverse. The bill of last year had the feelings of the country in its favour, which fixed the pivot price at 60s.; but the present bill, departing from that precedent, had fixed it at a lower rate, and upon a principle less calculated to operate as a certain protection. In the year 1815 we had been told that the average price of corn for several previous years had varied from 78s. to 80s. We had then been told in the year 1822, that, in consequence of the peace, and of the reduction of taxation consequent on the peace, and of certain other causes, 70s. was the proper

average price as calculated upon the prices during the years intervening between 1815 and 1822; and we were next told, in the year 1827, that 60s. was the proper average price, as calculated upon the prices during the years intervening between the years 1822 and 1827. Now, if we took into our consideration the price of corn during the last year, we should find that the proper average price was somewhat lower than 60s. Why then should we jump all at once, and without any express reason, to an average price above 60s.? Was it gracious to the people? Nay, was it gracious to that large majority of the House of Commons, which, in the last year, had affirmed a lower price, in compliance with the wishes of his majesty's ministers, many of whom were still filling the same places in the cabinet which they then occupied? Without any reason whatever-for they would do Mr. Grant the justice to state, that he had had the modesty not even to attempt to give a reason for the altered resolution which he had this year proposed to the House-without any reason whatever, he jumped above the price on which Mr. Canning had fixed in the bill of last year. The great object was, to secure the corn-market from all excessive fluctuations, and that was the very point in which the present bill was undeniably and notoriously deficient. It was a bill of false pretences, when it was held out to the agricultural interest as a premium on the bill which had been proposed last year: it was the most palpable fallacy that was ever attempted to be palmed upon a House of Commons. True it was, that at a certain price it afforded greater protection to the