BRITAIN. 



701 



burgesses were considered, in theory, to represent the 

 mercantile or trading interest of the kingdom. But 

 the distribution of these members was still more un- 

 equal than that of the knights. It was originally left 

 .at the pleasure of the crown to summon the most 

 flourishing towns to send representatives ; but deserted 

 boroughs continued, in most cases, to be summoned, 

 and even Blackstone ventures to hint, on this subject, 

 that " if any alteration might be wished or suggested 

 in the present frame of parliaments, it should be in fa- 

 vour of a more complete representation of the people." 

 The number of citizens and burgesses before the Re- 

 form Bill was 405 for England, 12 for Wales, 15 for 

 Scotland, and 35 tor Ireland. The privilege of send- 

 ing each 2 members was conferred on the English 

 universities by James I. By the exemption of some 

 boroughs, and the creation of new ones (which prero- 

 gative was first exercised by Edward IV., and for the 

 List time by Charles II.), the number of burgesses 

 varied at different times. In the first parliament of 

 Henry VIII., the whole number of the house of com- 

 mons was 298 : 360 were afterwards added by statute 

 or by the king's charter creating new or reviving old 

 boroughs. These were, by statute, the 24 burgesses 

 and knights for Wales, 2 for the county and 2 for the 

 city of Durham, 2 for the county and 2 for the city of 

 Chester ; 45 for Scotland, and 100 for Ireland, by the 

 acts of union with those kingdoms ; and the remain- 

 der by charter. The house of commons, therefore, 

 as formerly constituted, was as follows : In the first 



parliament of Henry VIII., 298 



Created since, by statute, 168 



Created or restored, by charter, 192 



658 



The number of places which sent members, and the 

 number of knights, citizens, burgesses, and barons sent 

 by the several cities, counties,Doroughs, and places, 

 were as follows : 



Ireland, 

 117 Counti? s, <( Scotlai 



r England, | 



& Cities, 1 1reland, 

 ^-Scotland, 



C England,) 



222 Boroughs,^ Ireland, 



Scotland,! 

 I Wales, $ 



3 Universi- {"England, 

 tics, (.Ireland, 



Isearh $80] Knights -, 



J * eacn 1 6* (called, also, 



, c 27 1 each 27 I in Scotland, 

 ' D( ^S . C3 altern.7 , fcommis- 



t il each J J oner) of ! 



Wales, 12 leach 12 J the shires, - 



- 2 each 461 



1 



165 2 each 

 1 



5 1 each 



26 1 each 



14 distr. 



1 each 



10 1 each 



4 /"Citizens, 

 ff 



11 



26 



ISO 



GO 



1 



26 



Mfc 



2 each 



Burgesses, 906 



Barons, 



882 Places ...... chose 



. . Members, 658 



In England, London was the city sending 4, Wey- 

 mouth and Melcombe- Regis was the borough sending 

 4. In Scotland, Edinburgh was the city sending 1. 

 In Ireland, Dublin and Cork were the cities sending 

 2. Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin were the univer- 

 sities. Many of the boroughs (q. v.) were entirely 

 gone to decay. These were called rotten boroughs, 

 and the right of election appertained to a few houses 

 (as, for example, Old Sarum consisting merely of the 

 ruins of a castle, had the election of two members of 

 parliament belonging to seven holders of certain pieces 

 of land, and depending on the earl of Caledon), or was 

 entirely in the hands of a single family. In several 

 large towns, the right of suffrage belonged only to the 

 freeholders, or to certain burgage tenures, so that the 

 mini her of electors was very small. These voters 



were mostly under the. influence of some great family ; 

 and, in this way, about 12 families alone commanded 

 more than 100 seats in parliament. Thus, the earls 

 of Mount Edgecombe and Fitzwilliam, and the dukes 

 of Bedford and Devonshire, returned each 6 members ; 

 the Pelhams (dukes of Newcastle, earls of Chichester 

 and lords Yarborough), 15 ; the duke of Norfolk, 10 ; 

 the earl of Lonsdale, 10, &c. For the few places that 

 were in the hands of independent voters, a shameless 

 system of bribery existed, in spite of the prohibitory 

 laws, and the prices of votes were generally well 

 known : a seat for a small place cost about 5000. 

 On the other hand, the principal cities, had no repre- 

 sentation ; and the cure of this evil is the great object 

 of the friends of parliamentary jeform. In its actual 

 composition, therefore, the house of commons was but 

 too easily influenced by the administration, which had 

 thus been sometimes enabled to sustain, for a long 

 time, a policy opposed to the national opinion and the 

 general welfare. This was long felt and complained 

 of by a large majority of the nation ; but many ob- 

 stacles of interest and ambition were thrown in the 

 way of its reform. When, however, the whigs came 

 into power in 1830, they found themselves driven by 

 the voice of the people to adopt some method for ex- 

 tending its constituency. On the 1st of March, 1831, 

 the ministerial plan of reform in the representation 

 was accordingly brought forward by lord John Rus- 

 sell ; and, after a debate of seven days, leave was 

 given to bring in three bills for reforming the repre- 

 sentation of England, Scotland, and Ireland. After a 

 debate of two days, the second reading of the bill for 

 England was carried by a majority of 302 to 301, on 

 the 22d. April 18, on the motion of lord John Rus- 

 sell, that the house resolve itself into a committee on 

 the reform bill, general Gascoyne moved, that, in the 

 opinion of the house, the number of representatives 

 for England and Wales, (which, by the bill, would be 

 seventy less than before) ought not to be diminished. 

 This motion being carried against ministers, after a 

 debate of two nights, by a majority of 299 to 291, 

 parliament was dissolved on the 22d. The new par- 

 liament assembled on the 14th of June ; and, on the 

 24th, lord John Russell obtained leave to bring in a 

 bill for reforming the representation. This bill, which, 

 in many respects, differed from the former, and in 

 which, in particular, the diminution of the number of 

 members was abandoned, finally passed the house, af- 

 ter long and warm debates, on the 21st September, by 

 349 to 236, but was rejected by the lords by a vote of 

 199 to 158. On the 20th of October, the parliament 

 was prorogued ; and, being again opened on the 6th 

 of December, lord John Russell, for the third time, 

 introduced a reform bill, which passed the commons 

 on the 23d of March : in the lords, however, minis- 

 ters being left in the minority, on a motion to amend 

 by lord Lyndhurst (May 7), earl Grey advised the 

 creation of such a number of new peers as was neces- 

 sary to carry through the bill, tendering his resigna- 

 tion as the alternative. The latter was accepted ; 

 and lord Wellington made an ineffectual attempt to 

 form a ministry. The whigs were, therefore, rein- 

 stated (May 1 8th), with the assurance of having the 

 necessary means of carrying the measure. The bill 

 then passed the lords by a vote of 166 to 22, a portion 

 of the opposition having withdrawn their resistance, 

 rather than force ministers to make a large creation 

 of new peers ; and, on the 7th of June, it received the 

 royal assent. Separate acts were passed for amend- 

 ing the representation of Scotland and that of Ireland. 

 By the act for England, the county members, or 

 knights of the shire, were increased from 94 to J 59 

 Besides the great change thus effected in equalizing 

 the distribution of members in the counties (as each 

 county before returned two knights, except Yorkshire, 



