the law officers of the Crown had given an opinion different to that fupported by the hon Gentleman. As to the queftion. of equity, whilft he agreed in the importance of the subject, he fhould certainly pay every attention to it, and endeavour to bring the point, refpecting which difficulties had arisen, to a decifion as foon as poffible.

Mr. Dent obferved, that fomething fhould be done before the 10th of April.

IRISH MILITIA.

The report of the Irish militia families provifion bill was brought up.

Mr. Fofter faid, that there was a mistake in this bill, by which the allowance to the children of militiamen was set down at 25. inftead of 4s. each.

Mr. Corry obferved, that this mistake might be amended on the third reading.

Mr. Fofter reminded the right hon. Gentleman that that would not be parliamentary: the amendment must take place in a Committee.

The bill was ordered to be recommitted on Monday.

AYLESBURY ELECTION.

The report of the Committee on the Aylesbury election was taken into confideration.

Several of the refolutions of the Committee were read and agreed to, after fome converfation refpecting a point of order between the Speaker and Mr. Bankes. Upon coming to the refolution in which the name of John Rawbones is inferted among thofe implicated in the charge of bribery,

The Marquis of Titchfield rofe, and ftating his opinion that fufficient proof did not appear to fuftain the charge against this man, he moved that his name fhould be omitted.

Mr. C. W. Wynne faid, that he was a member of the Committee appointed to try this cafe, in which it appeared that John Rawbones was prefent at a table when another perfon received a bribe, and this in confequence of a previous invitation. The Committee, therefore, felt it their duty to report his name, leaving it to the Houfe to decide whether his prefence upon the occafion alluded to fhould be confidered an affent to the act, and a participation of the guilt.

The Mafier of the Rolls thought that it would be extremely wrong, upon the grounds flated by the hon. Member, to inftitute any fuch profecution against the fubject of this motion as that which took place in the Ilchefter cafe.

The

The motion for his name being omitted was agreed to. Sir George Cornewall rofe, agreeably to notice, to move for leave to bring in a bill to prevent bribery and corruption in the election of reprefentatives for the borough of Aylesbury. The hon. Baronet obferved upon the fcandalous system of corruption which prevailed at Aylesbury during the last election. A number of the voters not being fatisfied with two candidates, deputed fome of their body to fearch for a third, whom they found out, and from whom they received a certain fum of money as a reward for their support at the election. This had appeared in evidence before the Committee, and he as their chairman had been appointed by the almost unanimous voice of the members, not to move for the difqualification of the voters concerned in the bribery, nor for their profecution, but for the introduction of fuch a bill as he now had the honour to fubmit, and which it was confidered would go more effectually to cure the evil complained of.

The Marquis of Titchfield conceived the object of the bill to be to throw open the borough, and as fuch he highly dif approved of it. He had no objection to any proceeding against the guilty perfons, but he trusted that Parliament would never confent to infringe the rights of above three hundred electors for this borough, merely upon the ground that, according to the report of the Committee, of which the hon. Baronet was chairman, 50 votes had been implicated in bribery. He hoped that no fuch attempt at difqualification would ever be countenanced in that Houfe, and feeling that the idea ought not to be entertained, he fhould vote against

the motion.

Mr. C. W. Wynne begged to fet his noble Friend right, as the corruption was much more extenfive than he had stated, for although the names of only 50 perfons were mentioned, not less than 200 electors were proved to have accepted bribes. This cafe was, indeed, fo diftinguished for open profligacy, that he had never heard of any thing at all like it. It was as unblufhing as if the bellman had been fent round the town to offer a bribe to any elector that would accept it; and those bribes were proved to have been diflributed by the fupporters of each of the contending parties. He did not therefore conceive that any grounds could exit to render it more ftrongly incumbent on the Legislature to interpose.

Nir. Rofe faid, that from the depofitions of Wilfon, a man who was very well difpofed to evade the facts, as the House was aware, it appeared that above 200 of the electors

of

of this borough had accepted bribes; that they were all collected in a room, on the table of which there was at one end a bowl of punch, and at the other a bowl of guineas, from which each man had his douceur, and creed proved; and that of the 270 who fupported Mr. Bent, only 5 votes were free votes. This was evidence fufficient to convict those men before a jury; and, with fuch evidence before Gentlemen, could they, he would ask, confiftently with their own character, or indeed with common decency, confent to reject a bill which had for its object to prevent the recurrence of fimilar corruption?

Sir John Newport ftated that the letter of invitation to the third candidate was figned by 200 electors, each of whom covenanted for and received his bribe. It was the custom among the electors of this borough to demand Christmas boxes of their reprefentatives, and, to enforce the payment of them, they fay, that they fhall always have a third candidate at the election, in order to enhance their own value. They had become discontented with the old candidates at the laft election, and they contrived to find a third, of whom they made ufe to plunder the other two and himself alfo. It appeared that in addition to the other guilt proved against those Gentlemen of Aylesbury, many of them went to each of the oppofing parties and promised their fupport. As they could not vote for more than two candidates, they of course meant to trick the third. When the third candidate arrived at Aylesbury, pursuant to the invitation already referred to, his carriage was dragged through the town, and at the house he stopped at all the voters inclined to fell their fupport to him were affembled, none being admitted but perfons qualified to vote, and each received two guineas. The hon. Baionet, after commenting upon the turpitude of fuch conduct, obferved that in his judgment the Houfe fhould be happy to avail itself of fuch cafes to throw open thofe boroughs, and thus to advance towards that pure reprefentation of the people which some gentlemen had propofed to attain by other means that were not confonant with the free fpirit of our conftitution. This appeared to him to be the method by which Parliament might purify the reprefentation of the people in that Houfe, and therefore he never gave a vote with more fincere fatisfaction than that he felt in fupporting the motion under difcuffion.

Mr. Nicholas Calvert approved of the motion, as he confidered this to be one of thofe jobbing boroughs, all of which

he

he fhould be happy to fee thrown open. There, any man who had a few thousands to spend, might, however unknown to or unconnected with the place, or however exceptionable in character, contrive, by a judicious application of that fum, to obtain his election. In fuch boroughs, from what he heard, he was difpofed to believe that there was generally an understanding between the partifans of the old and new candidates, the policy of both of whom it always was, and for obvious reafons, to create a conteft. The only practicable way, as it ftruck him, of removing such scandalous artifices, was by opening these boroughs.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, that it was enough for him to know that grofs bribery had been committed in the borough of Aylesbury, that a felect Committee had, upon grave investigation, decided that fuch was the cafe, and had in confequence reported fuch proceedings to the House. He must think it incumbent upon him to vote in fupport of a measure, in the first inftance, which purported to go to the prevention of a repetition of fuch practices. But he did not mean it to be understood, that by fuch a vote he held himself pledged to the fupport of this or that measure; on the contrary, he pofitively and unequivocally declared, that he did not bind himself to any thing more than the fupport of a bill with a title fuch as the prefent, referving to himself to exprefs his opinion, whatever it might be, without any reftraint whatever, in an ulterior stage of the bufinefs. Indeed he confeffed that there was fome degree of doubt upon his mind with respect to the present cafe, as Robert Dupree, Efq. the fitting member, had a charge laid against him, which was different from the cafe of the Cricklade and Shoreham elections. With the refolutions before them, which the House had received, he thought that they must see the propriety of admitting the bill which was then proposed.

Mr. Hurft declared, in the moft diftinct terms, that he thought it becoming the dignity of the Houfe that they should adopt fome measure for the affertion of its own rights, and for the prefervation of the freedom of election, in an inftance where they were fo flagrantly violated. But he could not at the fame time refrain from expreffing his difapprobation of a principle which had been laid down in the fpeech of the honourable Gentleman, who faid that the number of corrupt voters was not neceffary to be looked to, for that he thought it was fufficient that the existence of bribery within the boVOL. II. 1803-4. LI rough

rough was proved, in order to make him fee the neceffity of adopting a parliamentary regulation to prevent the recurrence of fuch a cafe hereafter. Now, he was of opinion that the bribery or corruption of any small portion of the inhabitants of any place could by no means warrant the House in taking upon them to interfere with the manner of voting within that district. In the prefent cafe, it was manifeft that a regular fyftem of corruption had been adopted and acted It was therefore an act which upon to a very great extent. the Houfe owed to itself and to the conftitution, to receive a bill for the future regulation of elections in fuch a place, at least so far as to prevent a repetition of fuch difgraceful practices. As to the internal merits of the bill, how far its contents went to prevent the evil complained of, or whether it might not go too far, he did not mean to inquire in the prefent ftage of the bufinefs, but should declare his fentiments, unfettered by any pledge or promife, at a future period, in the fame manner as the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer had declared that it was his intention to do. The cafes of the Shoreham and the Cricklade elections he thought by no means fimilar to the prefent.

The Mafter of the Rolls expreffed himself glad that no steps were fuggefted to be taken by the Houfe to prosecute the individuals implicated, as he should confider fuch a measure inexpedient. By agreeing to the introduction of the bill, he did not pledge himfelf to its principle; refpecting which he fhould referve himfelt for the second reading.

Sir R. Buxton obferved, that at the time when the Attorney General was inftructed to proceed in the cafe of the borough of Cricklade, it was one of the moft corrupt within the kingdom; fince it had been made an open borough it was as free and pure as any county in Great Britain. He was no friend to innovation; but he believed that if the Houfe was to amend the state of the borough reprefentation throughout the kingdom, it would contribute much to the honour of the House and the stability of our fyftem.

The question was at length put, and leave was granted to bring in the bill.

Sir G. Cornewall moved, that a new writ fhould not be iffued for the election of a member for the borough of Aylefbury until after the 27th of April. Ordered.

Mr. Rofe faid, that Mr. Bent being charged in the repoit with bribery and corruption, he fhould feel it his duty hortly after the recefs to move for an addrefs to his Ma

jesty