§ The Duke of Richmond, had on a former occasion presented a petition from certain electors of St. Mawes, who complained of having been forcibly ejected from their houses, because they voted against the nominees of the noble Duke opposite (the Duke of Buckingham). On that occasion the noble Duke declared that he was incapable of countenancing such acts of oppression, and he (the Duke of Richmond) gave full credit to that assertion. He, however, now held in his hand a petition from the same parties, in which they stated the circumstances under which they had been turned out of their houses by the agents of the noble Duke; and they had sent to him a notice, from which it appeared, that they had been so ejected from their tenements, "by virtue of a power 285 of attorney, granted by the most noble the Duke of Buckingham and Chandos." The only remark he should make upon this case was, that as Peers possessing nomination boroughs dared not openly interfere in elections, they were obliged to act through the means of agents; and he was afraid that those agents were too often guilty of such acts of oppression as those of which the petitioners complained.