74] ANNUAL REGISTER, 181?. 



some more of the evils attached to 

 the present system, he proceeded 

 to the remedies : generally, he 

 said, the leading steps would be, 

 first, granting to copyholders the 

 right to vote; secondly, abolish- 

 ing the right of nomination so as 

 to generalize the right of voting, 

 and thereby more fairly to propor- 

 tion the number of representatives 

 to the population of each place re- 

 presented. Having opened and 

 enforced his plan in various other 

 observations, one of which was, 

 " Give him seven or eight borough 

 proprietors, and he had not the 

 least doubt but that at all times he 

 would be able to command a ma- 

 jority of the house;" he concluded 

 with moving, " That leave be given 

 to bring in a bill to repeal the act 

 31 Geo. 2, c. 14, for further ex- 

 plaining the laws touching- the 

 electors of knights of the shire to 

 serve in parliament for that part of 

 Great Britain called England, and 

 to entitle copyholders to vote for 

 knights of the shire." 



The motion was seconded by the 

 Marquis of Tavistock, who de- 

 clared his intention, should it be 

 carried, of moving the repeaL of 

 the Septennial act. 



In the copious debate which 

 ensued, and which was maintained 

 by many of the principal speakers, 

 all the usual topics on both sides 

 respecting reform of parliament 

 were gone over, and every mea- 

 sure which had a tendency to that 

 end was decidedly condemned, not 

 only by the partisans of the actual 

 ministry, but by several of those 

 of the oppositionists who compose 

 what is termed the whig party. It 

 was contended by these speakers 

 that all chauge in the mode of re- 

 presentation would be dangerous, 

 ineffectual to cure any of the pub- 

 lic evils, and was very little desired 

 by the nation. The friends of re- 

 form on the other hand dwelt upon 

 the obvious inadequacy of the re- 

 presentation, and the never-failing 

 support given by the House of 

 Commons to every minister ; a 

 proof of the influence regularly 

 exerted over the majority. The 

 particular merits of the measure 

 proposed were scarcely at all 

 touched upon, and the ground 

 taken by its opposers was that of 

 resistance in the outset to every 

 attempt at alteration. The House 

 at length divided on the motion, 

 ayes 88, noes 215; majority 127. 



CHAPTER 



