Sitting of 20 October 1831

MINUTES.
Returns ordered. On the Motion of Mr. GEORGE ROBINSON, of the Ditties payable on the principal articles of British Produce in the Ports of Europe and the United States.
Petitions Presented. By Mr. PROTHEROE, from the Inhabitants of Bristol, in favour of the Rev. Robert Taylor.

REFORM—PETITIONS.
Colonel Evanspresented a Petition from Mr. F. Clayton, praying that the House would vote an Address to the King, requesting his Majesty to exercise his royal prerogative by creating such a number of Peers as might be thought requisite for the success of a new Reform Bill. The petitioner further prayed, that the Bishops might be disqualified from sitting as Spiritual Peers in the Upper House. The hon. and gallant Member expressed his concurrence in the sentiments avowed in the petition.
Mr. Humetook this opportunity of observing that, in his opinion, the slight distrust which, perhaps, was felt by a portion of the public towards his Majesty's Ministers was occasioned, in no small degree, by the circumstance of their retaining in office men opposed to them in politics. If his Majesty's Ministers would be guided by the opinion of so humble an individual as himself, (for he considered the present was a time for them to act with promptitude and energy) he did not hesitate to say that, if he were at the head of the Government, forty-eight hours should not pass before he would remove every Lord-lieutenant of a county who opposed the Reform Bill. He was prepared to recommend the utmost decision and energy, which he considered was necessary to break down a political party which had been in power for so many years. There must be no more attempts at conciliation. The
930
tranquillity and happiness of the country depended on the speedy adjustment of the question of Reform, and Ministers, therefore, should not allow any motives of personal delicacy to interfere in the adjustment of a matter of such vital importance to the country.
Sir Charles Forbesassured the hon. member for Middlesex, though agitation and intimidation seemed to be the order of the day, that honest men would not be deterred from doing their duty, and endeavouring to get the Bill lately before Parliament considerably modified. The hon. Member had alluded to Ministers retaining in office persons opposed to them. He did not think it was very just ground of complaint that the hon. Member's advice had not been acted upon. On a late occasion, the Ministers had removed a high officer in the Queen's Household (Earl Howe); and, if all they heard was to be relied upon—he repeated, that if all they heard, and what had been stated, was to be relied upon, that removal was contrary to the declared wishes both of the King and Queen, and had excited an extraordinary degree both of astonishment and disgust wherever the circumstances were known. He trusted that his Majesty's Ministers would not act again upon a principle so disgraceful, and that they would not be led away by the advice of the hon. member for Middlesex, who, by his own confession, had advised his fellow parishioners to withhold the payment of their rates.
Colonel Trenchthought the hon. member for Middlesex need have very little apprehension that his Majesty's Government would be deterred by any feelings of delicacy or propriety from adopting any proceeding calculated to promote their own measures. With respect to the Reform Bill, however, he contended that that there was a reaction in the public mind. It was manifest, by the return of his noble friend (Lord Ashley) for Dorsetshire, by a large majority of freeholders. He had reason to believe that this reaction was palpably manifesting itself throughout Ireland; and he hoped and trusted that the Bill would soon be as much in disfavour as it had ever been in favour with the country.
Sir Francis Burdettfully agreed with the hon. member for Middlesex, that, at a time like this, all ordinary considerations ought to be laid aside, and that his Majesty's Government ought not to hesitate

931
in removing any persons from office who might evince a disposition to retard the success of the great measure of Reform. With respect to the sneer of the hon. and gallant Member (Colonel Trench) as to the want of propriety and delicacy on the part of his Majesty's Government, he could only say, that Ministers, in his opinion, would be only doing that which was most conducive to the weal of the realm, if they acted on all occasions precisely contrary to the advice of Gentlemen opposite. The remarks of the gallant Member, and of the hon. Baronet were so discreet and well-timed as to remind him forcibly of the proverb—"Protect me from my friends, and I will defend myself against my enemies." No Reformer could have made observations more injurious to the Antireform party. The hon. and gallant Member had alluded to the Dorsetshire election, for instance, and designated the majority by which the noble Lord (Ashley) was returned as a large majority. If he was well informed, if there had been another Assessor, the noble Lord would, in all probability, have had no majority; and, as it was, the majority was very small. He repeated, that his Majesty's Government should sacrifice every feeling for the promotion of the great measure of Reform; and if it was thought necessary to reassemble Parliament again very soon, he hoped the importance of the measure to be brought forward would induce the Irish Members, to whom the country owed so much for their diligent attendance during the present Session, to sacrifice their personal convenience, and appear again in their places on the first day of the ensuing Session of Parliament.
Lord Ashleysaid, he did not expect that it would have been necessary for him to address the House so soon after taking his seat; still less did he anticipate that he should have been called upon to defend the Assessor, at the late election for Dorsetshire. He did not think it becoming of the hon. Baronet, considering his station, and experience, and his constitutional knowledge, to get up in his place, and throw out an insinuation on the character of the Assessor at a contested election, from whose decision there could be an appeal. In effect, the hon. Baronet brought the conduct of that Gentleman before the bar of that House although he did not summon him thither personally. The hon. Baronet seemed to insinuate, that he would not
932
have taken his seat in that House as member for Dorsetshire, had the Assessor impartially done his duty. Such an assumption, he could assure him, was most unreasonable and unjust, as it happened to be entirely destitute of foundation in fact. He was sure, upon cooler reflection, (if the hon. Baronet would pardon a much younger man for making such an observation) the hon. Baronet himself would regret that he had indulged in such a remark. It was impossible for him not to contend that a reaction had taken place in the public mind. If there had not been such a reaction, how happened it that, though he started only on the Wednesday, and appeared at the hustings on the Friday, and though his opponent (Mr. Ponsonby) had started fourteen days before, he (Lord Ashley) polled as many voters during the first two days as Mr. Bankes had done in the preceding election in six? If there had not been a reaction, how could it have happened that he received 500 votes more than Mr. Calcraft had received at the former election? There were many freeholders, who had walked twenty miles to the hustings and twenty miles back again, to poll for him, when they heard the cause on which he had started, without the slightest hope of remuneration. The Yeomanry of the county told him they would be his agents, and, in point of fact, they had been his agents. Many of the electors stated at the hustings—"We voted for the Reform candidate on the former occasion, but we are now satisfied the Bill was a great humbug." In illustration of this, he might state, that the inhabitants of the Isle of Portland, which island contained many freeholders, who had held their freeholds for a number of years, met to the number of 100, and agreed to petition the Lords against the Bill. The petition had been forwarded to the Duke of Wellington, and it contained these remarkable words—"We were deceived into the support of the Bill, in the first instance, by the abuse of the King's name." So far was the hon. Baronet from being correct in ascribing his success to the decisions of the Assessor, that he could inform the hon. Baronet, that his majority in fact would have amounted to more than 100, had no votes on either side been referred to his adjudication. He should not have trespassed on the House with these observations but for what had fallen from the hon. Baronet.
Sir Francis Burdett, in explanation, assured the noble Lord that he had never meant to asperse the character of the Sheriff's Assessor. He had only alluded to what he had heard stated, that it was calculated, if the votes had not been delayed by the Assessor, that there would have been a majority of fifty-six for Mr. Ponsonby, instead of a majority for the noble Lord. He also begged the House to observe, that the election for Dorsetshire was a very slight symptom indeed of the real state of public opinion throughout the country.
Mr. George Bankeshoped he might be allowed to mention the fact, that the same Gentleman was the Assessor at the late election, and at the former election, when the result was so different. In the mortification of defeat, some of Mr. Bankes's friends on the former occasion, were disposed to impugn the conduct of
934
the Assessor; but he said then what he repeated now, that he knew the Assessor, and that a more honourable man did not exist. If the Anti-reform party had not been taunted and challenged to come forward in Dorsetshire, he did not know that the experiment would have been tried; but, now that it had been successfully tried, the newspapers, which, before the election, were echoing the cry—"No Anti-reformer dare come forward for Dorset," were completely silent.
The Usher of the Black Rod summoned the House to attend his Majesty.
The Speaker, accordingly, repaired to the other House, accompanied by all the Members present; and soon afterwards returned, as usual, with the copy of the King's Speech (for which see the Lords' report), which he read at the Table; and thereupon the right hon. Gentleman and the Members severally departed.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
His Majesty, accompanied by the usual Officers of State, proceeded to the House of Peers to Prorogue the Parliament.
The House of Commons having been summoned to wait upon his Majesty, the Speaker, accompanied by Lord Althorp, and several other Members of the House appeared at the Bar.
The Speaker, holding the Appropriation Bill in his hand, then addressed his Majesty as follows:—"May it please your Majesty—We, your Majesty's most faithful Commons, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled, attend your Majesty at the close of a Session unusually protracted; and, Sire, among difficulties and anxiety, both within und without the walls of Parliament, and labours unprecedented in any former Session, we presume to hope that, we have discharged our duties as faithful Representatives of the people of these realms, and as loyal and devotedly attached subjects of your Majesty. Sire, the last bill which I have now to present is entitled, 'An Act to apply the sum of 1,800,000 l. out of the Consolidated Fund,

927
to the service of the year 1831, and to appropriate the supplies granted in this Session of Parliament,' to which, with all humility, we pray your Majesty's royal assent."
The Royal Assent was then given to the bill brought up by the Speaker, and to the following Bills:—Duties on Hops, Distillation of Spirits (Ireland), Valuation of Lands (Ireland), Military Accounts (Ireland), Embankment (Ireland), Bankruptcy Court Bill. Adverse Claims in Courts of Law, Select Vestries, and Enclosure of Crown Lands.
His Majesty then delivered the following Speech:—
"My Lords and Gentlemen;
"I am at length enabled to put an end to a Session of unexampled duration and labour, in which matters of the deepest interest have been brought under your consideration.
"I have felt sincere satisfaction in confirming, by my Royal assent, Bills for the amendment of the Game Laws, and for the reduction of Taxes, which pressed heavily on the industry of my people; and I have observed with no less pleasure the commencement of important improvements in the Law of Bankruptcy, from which the most beneficial effects may be expected.
"I continue to receive the most gratifying proofs of the friendly disposition of Foreign Powers.
"The Conference assembled in London has at length terminated its difficult and laborious discussions, by an arrangement unanimously agreed upon by the Plenipotentiaries of the Five Powers, for the separation of the States of Holland and Belgium, on terms by which the interests of both, together with the future security of other countries, have been carefully provided for.
"A treaty, founded on this arrangement, has been presented to the Dutch and Belgian Plenipotentiaries, and I trust that its acceptance by their respective Courts, which I anxiously expect, will avert the dangers by which the peace of
928
Europe was threatened whilst this question remained unsettled.
"Gentlemen of the House of Commons;
"I thank you for the provision made for the future dignity and comfort of my Royal Consort, in the event of her surviving me, and for the supplies which you have granted for the service of the present year. You may be assured of my anxious care to have them administered with the strictest attention to a well considered economy.
"The state of Europe has made it necessary to incur, in the various establishments of the public service, an increased expenditure, which it will be my earnest desire to reduce whenever it can be done with safety to the interests of the country. In the meantime I have the satisfaction of reflecting that these demands have been provided for without any material addition to the public burthens.
"My Lords and Gentlemen;
"In the interval of repose which may now be afforded you, I am sure it is unnecessary for me to recommend to you the most careful attention to the preservation of tranquillity in your respective counties.
"The anxiety which has been so generally manifested by my people for the accomplishment of a Constitutional Reform in the Commons House of Parliament will, I trust, be regulated by a due sense of the necessity of order and moderation in their proceedings.
"To the consideration of this important question the attention of Parliament must necessarily again be called at the opening of the ensuing Session; and you may be assured of my unaltered desire to promote its settlement, by such improvements in the Representation as may be found necessary for securing to my people the full enjoyment of their rights, which, in combination with those of the other orders of the State, are essential to the support of our free Constitution."

929
The Lord Chancellor, by his Majesty's command, said—
"My Lords, and Gentlemen;
"It is his Majesty's royal will and pleasure, that this Parliament be prorogued to Tuesday the twenty-second day of November next, to be then here holden, and this Parliament is accordingly prorogued to Tuesday, the twenty-second day of November next."
His Majesty retired, attended by Earl Grey, the Lord Chancellor, and the other officers of State; the Commons also retired from the Bar, and the Parliament separated.