the people, first introduced the system of attempting to enslave them by corrupting their Representatives. But even his pensioned Parliament, which bad sat sixteen years, was not found sufficiently tractable, and consequently was dissolved. As to James II. he committed many outrages, but none more flagrant or offensive than attempting to corrupt elections; and he was in consequence obliged to abdicate the throne. The main reason assigned in King William's Declaration for his coming to England was, the corruption of the House of Commons; that the Parliament were not allowed to be freely elected, or to consult independently what was for the benefit of the Nation; that tampering was used in electing and influencing them; that undue means were applied to procure compliance with the will of the Sovereign. Two Sovereigns, Richard II. and James II. were dethroned for packing Parliaments. Having thus historically shewn the right of the people to Parliaments freely elected, he would next come to the actual state of the representation. The petition of 1793 for reform, set forth and offered to prove that 84 individuals do, by their own immediate authority, send 157 Members to the House of Commons. That in addition to the 157 Members so returned, 150 more, making in all 307, are returned by the recommendation of 70 powerful individuals added to the 84 before mentioned, and making the number of patrons altogether 154, who return a decided majority of the House. One hundred and fifty-four individuals thus claimed and exercised the right of disposing, by their agents, of the lives, liberties, and property, of the millions of inhabitants who composed the subjects of this kingdom. Did not this seem in itself a usurpation? Did it not seem a grievance which called loudly for a remedy? Mr. Justice Blackstone, a courtly writer, had declared, that if the King and Lords influenced the House of Commons, which emanated from the people, and constituted their natural protectors, there was an end of the Constitution. Would it be contended that a few borough-mongers were to enjoy all the powers of the Constitution in their own hands; that they were to be the real Sovereigns of England, and dispose of our lives, liberty, and property, at their pleasure? Monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, had each their panegyrists; but an oligarchy had been universally condemned; and a borough-mongering oligarchy was the most odious, the most degrading, and the most galling of all oligarchies. That 150 patrons of the representation should exist, that they should exist against all law, that they should exist against the resolutions of the House of Commons itself, which resolutions were passed at the commencement of

every Session, and might be regarded as the law of Parliament, or at least a declaration to the country, that such was the law, appeared monstrous and unaccountable. If the Convention Parliament had been allowed to sit a little longer, it would have effectually secured the freedom of elections. But what it had done was now overturned. It had declared ex officio informations by the Attorney-Gene ral to be contrary to the laws of England; that proceeding so denounced by Parlia ment was now declared to be Law. The Constitution which we were taught to praise so highly, and on which we were desired to rely so firmly, was found too fragile and insecure; and a set of boroughmongers elected a representation, which, instead of protecting our freedom, were disposed only to suspend our rights and liberties. Machiavel and Montesquieu had observed that the perversion of a free Constitution led to a greater tyranny than could be practised under an avowed des potic power; and the latter said, that when the Parliament of England became corrupt, her liberties would perish. He then alluded to 150 statutes against corruption in elections, to the opinions of Plato and Locke, and to the oath of purga. tion of the Parliament of Charles I. to disprove an assertion of Mr. Canning's, that Government could not go on without the existence of corruption. He defined political corruption to be that state in which individual interest was arrayed against public good, and private views influenced public conduct; and combated Mr. Windham's opinion, that the electors were more corrupt than the elected. Confidence in Parliament could not exist, while the representation was in its present state, while the people had not the seats at their disposal, and the Treasury had a market to sell such commodities. The Noble Lord opposite (Castlereagh), who had been concerned in selling seats, was only more unfortunate than others, in having been detected. The practice was too notorious to be denied; and he called upon the gentlemen of England to put an end to a system, the effects of which had driven many of them from the seats of their ancestors, and compelled them to hide their heads in a foreign land from the pursuit of tax-gatherers and creditors, He then referred to the opinions of Lord Chatham, Mr. Pitt, and Mr. Fox, in fa vour of reform; and quoted Mr. Burke's opinion as to the character of a genuine House of Commons. "The virtue (Burke said), spirit, and essence of a House of Commons consists in its being the express image of the feelings of the Nation. It was not instituted to be a controul upor the people, as of late it has been taught, by a doctrine of the most pernicious ten

dency,

R

dency; but as a controul for the people." 10 He wished the Gentlemen of England would keep one fact in mind-that 150 borough proprietors had the property, the liberty, and the lives of this great Nation at their disposal; that by their agents they constituted the executive, or domi neered over it; that they had become King, Lords, and Commons, and excluded every other power from the Constitution. And he asked them if they would allow this state of things to continue? Since the Revolution, every thing which had been interposed as a security against the eucroachments of Power had been either taken away, or had been suffered to become a dead letter. As to the Septennial Act, he concurred with Dr. Johnson in considering it as one of the greatest contempts of human right ever committed. The pretence then was the danger of a jacobitical party; the pretence for continuing it was the danger of a jacobinical party. Believing, however, as he did, that there was no danger to be apprehended except by the Government continuing to do wrong, and still more to alienate instead of regaining the affections of the people by restoring to them their undoubted rights, he should conclude by moving "That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the present state of the representation of the country; and to report their observations to the House."

Mr. Brand seconded the motion; and complimented Sir F. Burdett on his able, luminous, and temperate speech. He had long since predicted, that, if a timely reform did not take place, the relation between the públick and that House would be such, that the House would be driven to measures of military coercion in the defence and maintenance of its authority, It was now the persuasion of a great majority of the country, that the House of Commons, as at present constituted, did not, in any fair sense, represent the people. The result of this was, in a time of profound peace, suspensions of their antient rights, and an enormous establishment to defend those suspensions. The French Revolution had been occasioned by opposition to all reform; and the Revolution in 1688 had been precipitated by general indignation at the Earl of Bath having, to secure to himself the place of Groom of the stole, procured the return of 44 Members from Cornwall; and complaints were heard from every corner of the Kingdom. "Early reforms," Mr. Burke had somewhere observed, "were amicable arrangements with a Friend in power: late reformations were terins imposed upon a conquered Enemy."

Sir J. Nichol opposed the motion. The Constitution worked well as it stood, and he would not endanger it by visionary imGENT. MAG. June, 1817.

provements. The burden of taxation was necessary to defray the interest of the national debt, which had been increased by wars undertaken in conformity with the wishes of the people; for every war from the Revolution had been popular; and Republicks were even more clamorous for war than Monarchies. The addition of 100 Irish Members had accomplished what Lord Chatham wished for, that of infusing a new portion of blood into the Constitution, as he called it, by adding 100 County Members. He reprobated the attempts made to delude the people, to excite their passions, to lead them on to the destruction of themselves, and of the Government, which they ought to revere, and were bound to maintain. Much had been said, both now and on former occasions, as to suspending the Constitution of the country; but he was fully persuaded that that measure was necessary for protecting the liberties of the people. With regard to the influence of the Crown, he denied that it had been increased: on the contrary, it had been considerably abridged; and particularly by rendering the Judges independent, by passing the Grenville Act, by excluding contractors from the House, and by preventing revenue-officers from interfering at elections.

Lord Cochrane supported the motion. If the call for reform was not obeyed, the mass of corruption would destroy itself, for the maggots it engendered would eat it up. (A laugh,)—The manner in which that House was composed, was the grand cause of all the distress of the country. Ministers, with all their declamation against Spenceans, had effectually acted on their system, having reduced the landed gentlemen to be nothing more than stewards for paying over the little rent they got, in the shape of taxes to Government.

Mr. Curwen said, the reason of the late unconstitutional measures was obvious enough. They had been compelled to abridge the liberties of the people, because they did not possess their confidence. The wish for reform was general; and he thought it would be wise, as a measure of policy, to give the people some farther degree of political power, not only to induce them to bear the present burdens, but those future difficulties which awaited them. The majority of the people, he was convinced, were attached to the Constitution; but an uniform resistance to reform was not the way to preserve that attachment.

Mr. Ward could never hear Reform mentioned, but it always struck his mind in the same way as if he heard a motion for democracy, revolution, and the total subversion of that Constitution and order of things which had raised this Country to a pitch of glory and prosperity unknown in the annals of the world. The numerous petitions

with the hope of assistance and direction, yet, to the districts thus referred to, the more recent projects of insurrection were to have been contined.

The Committee then state, that although in many of these districts distress has operated to expose the minds of the labouring classes to irritation and perver. sion, yet this distress, in their opinion, has been rather, the instrument than the cause of the disaffection. In some of the disaffected districts they believed the distress had been less felt than in many other parts of the kingdom; while in other places where that distress has been most grievous, it has been sustained with such patience, loyalty, and good conduct, as cannot be too highly commended; and the Committee think that is chiefly by the means mentioned in the Report of the former Committee, namely, by the extensive circulation of seditious and blasphemous publications, and by the continual repetition of inflammatory discourses, that this spirit of disaffection has been excited and diffused. These have gradually weakened among the lower order the attachment to our Government and Constitution, and the respect for law, morality, and religion; and their minds have thus been prepared for the adoption of measures no less injurious to their interests and happiness, than to those of every other class of his Majesty's subjects. Since the former Report, Manchester and its neighbourhood are stated to be the only places where meetings have been held in such numbers as to excite alarm. At a meeting held there on the 3d of March, for the purpose of petitioning against the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, on which occasion several thousand persons were assembled, it was resolved, that another ineeting was to be held on the 10th, with the intention that ten out of every twenty persons should proceed to London with a petition to the Prince Regent. The interval was employed in repeated and numerous meetings, when the designs of the leaders were developed in speeches of the most undisguised violence. One man avowed himself a republican and a leveller, and would never give up the cause till a republican form of Government was established: others stated, that if their petition were rejected, they must force it; that the large towns in Yorkshire were acting upon the same plan, and would meet them upon the road, or at least march to London at the same time: that the Scotch were on their march, and that they should be one hundred thousand strong when joined by the people of the manufacturing districts on the road; and that it would be impossible for the army, or any thing else, to resist them. The speakers were

sometimes checked by some of their associates, but were generally received with strong marks of applause, and concur

rence.

Arrangements for the march were pointed out, and the people were told to provide themselves with blankets, shoes, and koapsacks, and with money and food. Those who remained behind were to assist with subscriptions. Every ten men were to choose a leader, and one was to be placed over every hundred. Strong intimations were also given of the propriety and necessity of providing themselves with arms, but those do not appear to have been acted upon, except in a few instances.

On the 10th of March the Meeting took place, consisting of from 10 to 12,000 persons; and although some of the leaders had been previously arrested, and some were seized on the spot, the purpose was not abandoned, and large numbers of the deluded people marched off.

It goes on to state, that a considerable body was stopped on their way to Stockport, while great numbers passed through Leek, and one party went as far as Ashbourne; but the activity of the Magistrates in dispersing the Meeting and stoping these parties, prevented the execution of a design which probably would have disturbed the peace, not only of the coupties through which they passed, but might have led to consequences highly dangerous to the public tranquillity.

It observes, that the planners of the plot, instead of being discouraged by this discomfiture, pursued their measures uninterruptedly. Fresh meetings, though in smaller numbers, were soon afterwards held, consisting chiefly of delegates from Manchester, Derbyshire, and the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire. At some of these meetings reports were made of the quantity of pikes, firelocks, and bul leis, which could be procured for the intended rising. Communications were kept up with Nottingham, Sheffield, and Birmingham, in order to excite the people of those districts to similar attempts, and to ascertain the progress of their preparations. In these meetings, it is stated that the pretence of Parliamentary Reform was almost entirely discarded, and nothing less than Revolution was meditated: and to such a dreadful degree were the minds of many of the people at these meetings corrupted and inflamed, that in public speeches the necessity of doing away with, or disposing of (this was the term), the persons most obnoxious to them were unreservedly announced; and it is stated to have been once proposed to make Manchester a Moscow, in order to strengthen the cause by throwing great numbers out of work.

A general insurrection was to have commenced

commenced at Manchester, on the 50th; Magistrates were to have been seized, prisoners liberated, soldiers either to be surprised at their barracks, or to be drawn out of them by the burning of factories to be set on fire, and while they were thus diverted from their posts, the barracks were to be occupied by a party stationed for that purpose, and the magazine was to be seized. The firing of a rocket, or rockets, was to be the signal for this rising. The numbers sufficient for the immediate purpose were estimated at 2 or 3000 men, but it was expected that the insurgents would amount to 5000 in the morning.

In some parts of these proceedings there are traces of an intention to issue proclamations, absolving the King's subjects from their allegiance, and denounc ing death against their opponents. The Committee, however allow, that they have not found any evidence of the actual preparation of these proclamations.

This atrocious conspiracy was detected and defeated by the Magistrates, who seized and confined some of the ringleaders before the period fixed for its execution. This timely prevention appears to have checked very considerably the proceedings of the disaffected, and the subsequent intelligence from that quarter is of a more favourable kind.

During part of the month of April there appears to have been a general intermission, at least of the more open proceed ings. Owing to the regulations of the new Act, public meetings have been less frequent, and societies have been less frequently convened, even in public houses. Clubs have been dissolved, meetings suspended, or held so privately and so remotely, as to have escaped observation.

They have fewer communications in writing: the names of leading persons have been recommended to be concealed; few persons only are entrusted with the progress of their plans, and these men are to give notice to different delegates to have their partisans ready to act when aud as required. These delegates have met in small numbers, and have kept up a general though verbal correspondence among the disaffected.

Towards the end of April and during the mouth of May, this correspondence has been more active. On the 5th of May a meeting was held in a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which was attended by delegates from other principal towns of that district, and from Leicester, Birmingham, and Nottingham. At this meeting reports were made by the delegates of the numbers which could be collected from the different districts: they were stated to be very large; but the Committee states itself to be aware of the

exaggeration probable in such a matter. About this time it was proposed that there should be another general meeting, for as early a day as possible after the discussion of the question of Reform in the House of Commons. The insurgents were first to march to Nottingham, where they were expected to be joined by other bodies; and on their way to London by still more, all armed either before, or to be armed by the robbery of private houses or of different barracks and depots which were to be attacked.

At several subsequent meetings it was reported, that the increase of members was so great, that it was said at one of them, that it was necessary to extend their divisions daily, and enlarge their committee.

Similar information from many quar. ters whence the delegates were deputed, confirms the expectation of a general rising about the time that has been mentioned; and states, that a postponement took place to the 9th or 10th of June, for various reasons. By the latest intelli, gence from these quarters it appears, that these designs were frustrated by the same causes that formerly existed, namely, the vigilance of Government, the activity and intelligence of the Magistrates, and the assistance lent them in the exercise of their functions by the regular troops and yeomanry acting under their direction, the efficient arrangements of the officers intrusted with the service, the knowledge obtained of the plans of the disaffected, together with the arrest and imprisonment of the leading agitators; and that by these causes a still farther postponement of their atrocious plans would be occa sioned. Subsequent intelligence leaves no doubt that the plan, in its full extent, has been frustrated; but the correctness of former information has been confirmed by the late appearance of bodies of armed men at the period previously fixed, and particularly in one of the districts which had been described as determined to rise, without waiting for a general cooperation.

The Committee think it important to state, that many of the most active Ma gistrates, and persons whose civil and military situations enabled them, upon the most extensive information, to form the most accurate opinion, concur in attri buting the disappointment of the attempts already made, and the hopes of continued tranquillity, to the exercise of the new powers which Parliament entrusted to the Executive Government, and to the influence produced by the knowledge that these powers would be called into action as soon as necessity should justify their employment. They concur likewise in a representation of the danger with which

the