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your honourable House, that the population, which at the Revolution scarcely exceeded 5,000,000, now exceeds 12,000,000, and including Wales, 14,000,000; which, with the population of Scotland and Ireland, amounts to 21,000,000. With this vast increase of population extensive towns have arisen, and industry and property have been directed into new channels; and your petitioners conceive that, if no other argument could be advanced in favour of reform, the existence of so immense a mass of unrepresented population and property would alone be sufficient to induce your honourable House to admit them into the exercise of their undoubted civil rights, by a full and equal participation in the elective franchise.

"That when the present state of the representation is considered -when it is notorious that the most glaring bribery and perjury are habitually committed, that members are sent to your hon. House, not even by the choice of those few who nominally elect them, but by individual proprietors of boroughs, that in violation of the constitution and the orders of your honourable house, numerous Peers are to be found among those proprietors and that Parliaments, which, in the language of Mr. Burke, were not instituted to be a control upon the people, but a control for the people,' become thereby instruments in the hands of administration-your petitioners humbly conceive, that the existence of such abuses is wholly incompatible with the public safety, and must lead, if not speedily corrected, to a train of calamities.

"That your petitioners have

also to state other reasons in support of the necessity of reformAt the Revolution, and long subsequently thereto, the present extensive and organized means of influence and corruption were not in existence. At the accession of William III. there was no national debt; since that time a debt of 800,000,000l. has been created. The annual taxes have been increased during that period from 2,000,000l. to 60,000,000l.; and the peace expenditure is no less than 53,000,000l. The expense for the collection alone is now double the whole national expenditure at that period. That endless source of vexation and oppression, the excise, which even the influence of Sir R. Walpole could not extend, is now increased from 500,000l. to nearly 30,000,000l. per annum. The assessed taxes, another source of vexation and oppression, and which at that time had no existence, are now 8,500,000l. per annum. The poor-rates, scarcely then known, have been increased, even since the year 1792, from 2,000,000l. to about 7,000,000l. The stamp duties, no less burdensome and partial in their operation, were not then known, as also other grievous imposts that could be mentioned. Standing armies were not then tolerated: during the reign of William III. they never exceeded 10,000 men; and your honourable House is aware of the stand that was made in Parliament in the reign of George II., upon constitutional grounds, against the keeping up of a force not then amounting to 18,000 men, but now the country has, in time of peace, to support an army of 80,000. To the above-mentioned sources of influence

fluence may be added, the increased number of Peers, many of whom, your petitioners have reason to fear, owe their advance ment solely to their influence in returning members to your hon. House. The introduction, also, of Scotch and Irish members into your honourable house, who are mostly returned by the same unconstitutional means, has greatly added to the preponderating in fluence of the Ministers of the Crown.

"That your petitioners have also to observe, that the extending the duration of Parliament by the Septennial Act was another measure that conferred upon Ministers and their dependents an undue and dangerous acquisition of influence, and has been a fruitful source of corruption among electors. The said act was passed as a temporary measure to meet a particular emergency, but not without great difficulty; and has always been considered, by some of the highest authorities, as an unwarrantable and unconstitutional assumption of power by the Parliament, for the exercise of which authority they had no more right than they would have had to render themselves permanent. "That your petitioners having enumerated the foregoing facts, cannot omit stating some others respecting the present actual state of the representation.

"That in a petition presented to your honourable House in 1793 by the Hon. Mr. Grey (now Lord Grey), it was alleged and offered to be proved, that 307 Members of your honourable House, forming a majority therein, were returned, not by the voice of the people, but by 158 Peers and other powerful

individuals; and in the said petition they attributed the eagerness with which seats were sought, to the increased national debt and consequent increase of influencethe debt being at that time 244 millions, and the annual expenditure 16 millions.

"That your petitioners beg particularly to impress upon the minds of your honourable House, that if the national debt, which had been accumulating for a century, could in 1793 have so powerful an influence, in how much higher a degree must its pernicious operation have been increased, when from that time to the present it has advanced from 244 to the enormous amount of 800 millions?

"That they beg therefore to call the attention of your honourable House to the following additional facts, which they believe to be substantially correct, as far as facts of such a nature can be ascertained.

"That there are in your hon. House no less than 89 members who hold places, sinecures, or pensions under the Government, who share among themselves 183,37 N. 8s. 104d. of the public money, and who, as your petitioners are informed and believe, invariably vote, with the exception of some few, with Ministers; and that the indirect influence in your hon. House is further augmented by the great number of members who are the relatives or dependents of persons holding similar places and appointments, as well as by the extensive military, naval, church, and colonial patronage.

"That the boroughs in Cornwall send to your hon. House 42 members; while, exclusive of coun

ty

ty members, 43 only are returned by sixteen other counties, including London and Middlesex.

"That the said county of Cornwall contains a population of 250,000, and nearly 45,000 houses, and only about 1200 persons return the said 42 members: That were the said voters uninfluenced, your petitioners conceive that this return could in no sense be considered a representation, even of that county; whereas, they are no toriously corrupt, and mostly under the dominion of patrons.

"That the county of Wilts, containing a population of 220,000, and 42,000 houses, returns 32 members; and, as your petitioners are informed and believe, the elections are wholly under the control and dominion of about 21 individuals, among whom are some Peers.

"That the said counties of Cornwall and Wilts, together, send 74 members; while nineteen other counties, with a population of four millions and a half, send only 76, exclusive of county members.

"That the county of Surrey, containing more than 398,000 inhabitants, and 64,000 houses, returns 14 members: That, exclusive of the electors of Southwark, about 3000 in number, the other 12 members are returned nominally by about 500 persons, but in fact by about half-a-dozen patrons: That at Gatton, Bletchingly, Reygate, and Haslemere, in the said county, which return eight of the above, the elections are a gross burlesque, the inhabitants having no more concern therein than the Emperor of Morocco.

"That while these, with Old Sarum, and numerous other places,

which are too well known to be pointed out, remain an indelible stain upon the character and sense of the nation, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Halifax, containing together a population of more than 400,000 persons, and other large and populous towns and districts, the seats of industry, intelligence, and capital, are wholly excluded from their just and constitutional share in the legislature, having no choice whatever in the election of representatives.

"That Middlesex and Lancashire, containing a population of nearly two millions and a quarter, return only 22 members, including the county and London members.

"That in many of the large cities and towns a very small number of the resident householders have any share in the elections, most of the voters being non-resident.

"At Liverpool, for instance, where the population consists of nearly 119,000 persons, the voters do not amount to 3000; and twothirds of those are non-resident, while opulent and respectable householders neither have nor can obtain the right of voting.

"That at other places the election is confined to close corporations, composed of a few self-elected individuals. At the city of Bath, containing with its suburbs a population of 53,000, the inhabitants have no voice whatever in the choice of members, the two members being returned by a close self-elected corporation, consisting of 33 persons only: and at Marlborough, containing upwards of 3000 inhabitants, the members are chosen in like manner by a

close

close corporation of twenty burgesses, recently reduced to only five voters.

"That your petitioners have judged it proper thus to point out a few instances of glaring inequality; but your honourable House must be aware, that there are a great number of similar instances which could not be enumerated in the space of a petition; and that instances of bribery, perjury, and corrupt influence, pervade the whole system, poisoning the morals of the people, and threatening the subversion of the constitution.

"That it is notoriously known that seats are sold at enormously high prices; and your petitioners submit, that it is against all experience and credibility to suppose that those who thus obtain their seats in your honourable House will not indemnify themselves by shamefully bartering the interests of the public for their own emolument.

"That further to show the progress of corrupt influence, your petitioners beg to state, that the number of statutes found necessary to preserve the freedom and independence of Parliament, to regulate elections, and to prevent frauds, bribery, &c., down to the Revolution of 1688, amounted only to 14; those passed from that time to the death of Geo. II. were 35; and those passed during the reign of Geo. III. were 41; making together 90 statutes.

"That your petitioners conceive, that if the present distresses and embarrassments of the country, the disregard which has year after year been shown to the petitions of the people, and the majorities which have appeared devoted to the Ministers in support of measures hostile

to their rights and interests, and against the declared sense of the nation, were not of themselves sufficient evidence of the inadequacy of the representation, the foregoing facts cannot fail to produce conviction of its utter inefficacy to correct abuses, and secure the people against the encroachments of power.

"That although your petitioners cannot expect that a reformed Parliament could immediately remove evils so deeply rooted, they feel confident that as the want of this salutary and constitutional control over the Ministers of the Crown has been the great source of national evil, a Parliament fairly chosen, which shall represent the feelings, opinions, and interests of the nation at large, would gradually remove their grievances, and reconcile the people to such burdens and privations as may be unavoidable.

"Your petitioners call to the recollection of your honourable House, that in this mixed government of King, Lords, and Commons, the representative body forms an essential and fundamental part of the British Constitution

that it is the only safeguard of the people against arbitrary power

the great bulwark by which the life, the liberty, and the property of the subject can alone be protected-that, in the words of that great statesman, Lord Somers,

the House of Commons is the great inquest of the whole kingdom to search into all the oppressions of the King's Ministers'-that in the language of not less authority, that of Mr. Locke, the supreme executor acts contrary to his trust, when he either employs the force, treasure, or offices of the society,

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to corrupt the representatives, and to gain them to his purposes, or openly pre-engages the electors and prescribes to their choice: what is it but to cut up the Government by its roots, and poison the very fountain of public security?' they may also quote the memorable words of Lord Camden-Taxation and representation are inseparably united no British Parliament can separate them to endeavour to do it is to stab our vitals. Taxation and representation are inseparable; this position is founded upon the laws of nature, for whatever is a man's own is absolutely his own: no man has a right to take it from him without his own consent, either expressed by himself or his representative. Whoever attempts it, attempts an injury; whoever does it commits a robbery; he throws down the distinction between liberty and slavery. Taxation and representation are coeval with, and essential to the Constitution.'

"Your petitioners disclaim all visionary and impracticable projects of Reform. They are desirous of seeing the Executive Government guarded by all its constitutional prerogatives;-they are desirous of preserving to the Hereditary Branch all its just privileges; but they are also desirous of seeing the Representative Body placed upon its true basis, and rendered the real and efficient representation of the people.

"Your petitioners, therefore, humbly pray, that your honourable House will take all these facts and circumstances into your serious consideration;-that you will cause immediately all practicable reductions to be made in the public expenditure, and adopt such mea

1823.

sures as may effectually restore to the people their just share in the legislature, by a full, fair, and free representation in Parliament."

Petition against Religious Persecution, presented to Parliament, signed by 2047 Persons, of whom 98 were Ministers.

"That your petitioners are sincere believers in the Christian Revelation from personal conviction on examination of the evidences on its behalf; and are thankful to Almighty God for the unspeakable blessing of the Gospel, which they regard as the most sacred sanction, the best safeguard, and the most powerful motive, of morality, as the firmest support and most effectual relief amidst the afflictions and troubles of this state of humanity, and as the surest foundation of the hope of a life to come, which hope they consider to be in the highest degree conducive to the dignity, purity, and happiness of society.

"That with these views and feelings, your petitioners beg leave to state to your honourable house, that they behold with sorrow and shame the prosecutions against persons who have printed or published books which are, or are presumed to be, hostile to the Christian religion, from the full persuasion that such prosecutions are inconsistent with, and contrary to, both the spirit and the letter of the Gospel, and, moreover, that they are more favourable to the spread of infidelity, which they are intended to check, than to the support of the Christian Faith, which they are professedly undertaken to uphold.

"Your petitioners cannot but consider all Christians bound by 2 G

their

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