=^*«V^^v 
 
 ^^■V, 
 
 •^V; 
 
 
 ''^M^ 

 
 L 1 B RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N I VERS ITY 
 
 or 1 LLl NOIS

 
 AN 
 
 APPEAL 
 
 CLAMOUR TO COMMON SENSE, 
 
 tVc.
 
 AN 
 
 APPEAL 
 
 FROM 
 
 CLAMOUR TO COMMON SENSE , 
 
 OR 
 
 SOME ENQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 DETAILS AND OPERATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 REFORM 
 
 PROPOSED FOR 
 
 ENGLAND AND WALES. 
 
 " II semble qu'ils aient meconnu la grandeur et la dignite m^nie de 
 leur ouvrage : Us se sont amuses a faire des institutions pu6riles, avec 
 lesquelles ils se sont a la v6rite conformes aux petits esprits, mais d^cr6- 
 dit^s aupr^s des gens de bon sens." 
 
 Montesquieu. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES KIDCiWAY, 1G9, PICCADILLY. 
 
 M.DCCC.XXXI,
 
 ^UIUC 
 
 'J'illiiij.', I'riiitei, 'Jhelsea.
 
 AN APPEAL, 
 
 Sfc. Sfc. Sfc. 
 
 After the crowds who have lately sought 
 for public notice by the pen, I feel that some 
 excuse should be made for the presumption 
 of a new attempt; and I am desirous of thus 
 bespeaking the indulgence of my reader at 
 the outset, by assuring him, that there has 
 been, in putting together the few following 
 pages, no premeditated design, merely to 
 make a pamphlet. 
 
 It is no " scribendi cacoethes,'" no itch 
 of scribbling, which has persuaded me to 
 throw their substance into this shape, — no 
 longing to fly my own little kite among the 
 thousand which have, with more or less 
 steadiness, floated, for some time past, upon 
 the gale of political discussion, — no wish 
 to add one more to the " infinite swarms of 
 calones;'' that " disorderly rout, that follow 
 
 B
 
 the camp of literature, without coats to cover 
 them;" and so overrun this land, when at- 
 tracted by the plunder of some great question 
 of public excitement. Far be it from me 
 to under estimate the value of those produc- 
 tions of the day, (whereof, there are some 
 few,) which, at such times, really contribute 
 to assist the judgment of the nation with the 
 light of reason or experience; but in aspiring 
 to that class there are a crowd of feelings, — 
 of doubt, — of diffidence, — of indolence, which 
 tend to affect the resolution of one who is 
 unaccustomed to the vicissitudes of the pur- 
 suit. 
 
 Nevertheless, these are sensations to which 
 a man ought not at all times to yield; there 
 are occasions when the questions to be de- 
 cided are of mighty and universal public mo- 
 ment, on which no man is justified by such 
 considerations, in withholding what might 
 do service, either by facts or argument, and 
 on which he is bound to contribute even his 
 untried coin to the general subscription of 
 ability or industry. 
 
 It is to the latter of these qualities alone, 
 that the author of the following enquiry 
 pretends, in any degree, a claim. No one 
 will deny, that such an occasion as that above 
 described, has at this time arisen. Yet the
 
 reader (should there be those who have the 
 patience to peruse this writing) must not 
 expect an essay upon the question of Re- 
 form, or another of those packets of reflec- 
 tions upon its principles, or of arguments 
 upon the Ballot, of wliich such multitudes 
 have been already conferred upon the country. 
 My course is less pretending, but, I hope, 
 not less useful. I shall discuss not the ge- 
 neral qualities even of the actual measure ; 
 but I humbly conceive, that a few facts 
 collected, and compared, are not likely to be 
 wholly unserviceable ; and since I have em- 
 ployed some hours in examining many of its 
 details, and their effects, with diligence and 
 attention, I am desirous of offering to those 
 who may have had less leisure, or less in- 
 dustry, the beneiits of that application. Pre- 
 mising, however, that although, as I have said, 
 it is not immediately to the principles of the 
 Reform Bill that I desire to direct the notice 
 of the reader, yet such a consideration of the 
 details, as I propose to lay before him, must, 
 of course, in many respects, and, in no small 
 degree, affect those principles. 
 
 Wherever this is not directly the case, I 
 shall no doubt be met by the Reformers, as 
 others have been met before me, with their 
 usual answer; — " Oh! but what does all 
 
 B 2
 
 tliis signify? What matters it to the nation, 
 -whether this or that Borough be extinguished? 
 What care the people about the question be- 
 tween Buckingham and Calne ?" 
 
 Why, truly, it would matter little to the 
 nation, whether an individual A. enjoyed his 
 honours and his income, or B., or nobody at 
 all; the people will care little, whether I have 
 rather less property, and my neighbour some- 
 what more, and whether he enter my house 
 in order to effect the transfer. But is it 
 nothing to the eternal principles of moral 
 justice? — Nothing to the great ends of pub- 
 lic faith and equity? — Nothing by those 
 high rules and maxims of political wisdom, 
 which lay down the security of property and 
 rights as the basis of all constitutions of so- 
 ciety, — that men should be stripped at random 
 of their antient and acknowledged privileges, 
 — robbed, without an urgent necessity, or even 
 an enquiry to ascertain it, of their most 
 valuable rights, — and disposed of, according 
 to the chances and caprices of a half-con- 
 sidered expediency? For my own part, I 
 cannot believe, that the people at large, the 
 sensible, intelligent, and reflecting part of 
 the community of these realms, has been yet 
 brought to view the subject with such short- 
 sighted indifference. I am persuaded, that
 
 though they be anxious for Reform, they wish 
 to see it executed with justice and discretion. 
 
 On an occasion, and in an undertaking like 
 the present, they have a right to demand more 
 than usual care. They have a right to ex- 
 pect that those to whom it is entrusted, should 
 use all efforts to obtain the means of proceeding 
 with due knowledge and security. *' It is 
 not," says a great writer,* " in destroying and 
 palling down, that skill is displayed ; your 
 mob can do this as well, at least, as your assem- 
 blies ; the shallowest understanding, the rudest 
 band, is more than equal to that task. Rage 
 and phrenzy will pull down more in half an 
 hour, than prudence, deliberation, and foresight, 
 can build up in a hundred years. The errors 
 and defects of old establishments are visible 
 and palpable ; it calls for little ability to point 
 them out; and where absolute power is given, 
 it requires but a word wliolly to abolish the vice 
 and the establishment together." " To make 
 every thing the reverse of what they have seen, 
 is quite as easy as to destroy. No difficulties 
 occur in what has never been tried. Criticism 
 is almost baffled in discovering the defects of 
 what has not existed ; and eager enthusiasm, 
 and cheating hope, have all the wide field of 
 
 * Burke. Reflections ou the "Revohition in France. 
 B 3
 
 ituagination in which the}/ may expatiate witl» 
 little or no opposition. 
 
 " At once to preserve, and to reform, is quite 
 another thing. Wlien the useful parts of an old 
 establisliment are kept, and what is superadded 
 is to be fitted to what is retained, a vigorous 
 mind, steady persevering attention, various 
 powers of comparison and combination, and 
 the resources of an understanding, fruitful in 
 expedients, are to be exercised ; they are to 
 be exercised in a continued conflict with the 
 combined force of opposite vices ; with the 
 obstinacy that rejects all improvement, and 
 the levity that is fatigued and disgusted with 
 every thing of which it is in possession. But 
 you may object — ' A process of this kind is 
 slow." " Such a mode of reforming possibly 
 might take up many years.' Without ques- 
 tion, it might; and it ought It is one of the 
 excellencies of a metliod in which time is 
 among the assistants, that its operation is slow, 
 and in some cases abnost imperceptible. If 
 circumspection and caution are a part of wis- 
 dom, when we work only upon inanimate 
 matter, surely they become a part of duty 
 too, when the subject of our demolition and 
 construction is not brick and timber, but sen- 
 tient beings, by the sudden alteration of whose 
 state, condition, n\\i\ habits, multitiides may
 
 be reiideieil miserable." " Tlie true lawgiver 
 ought to have a heart full of sensibility. He 
 ought to love and respect his kind, and to 
 fear himself. It may be allowed to his tem- 
 perament to catch his ultimate object with an 
 intuitive glance ; but his movements toward it 
 ought to be deliberate. Folilical arrangement, 
 as it is a work for social ends, is only to be 
 wrought by social means. I'here mind must 
 conspire with mind. Time is required to pro- 
 duce that union of mind which alone can pro- 
 duce all the good we aim at, Our patience will 
 achieve more than our force." " By a slow 
 but well-sustained progress, the efi>3ct of each 
 step is watched ; the good or ill success of the 
 first gives light to us in the second ; and so, 
 from light to light, we are conducted with 
 safety through the whole series. We see tlnit 
 the parts of the system do not clash. The 
 evils latent in the most promising contrivances 
 are provided for as they arise. One advantage 
 is as little as possible sacrificed to anotlier. 
 We compensate, we reconcile, we balance. 
 We are enabled to unite into a consistent 
 whole the various anomalies and contendinir 
 principles which are found iii the minds and 
 aftairs of men. From hence arises, not an 
 excellence in simplicity, but one far superior, 
 an excellence in composition. Where the great 
 
 B 4
 
 8 
 
 interests of mankind are concerned through a 
 long succession of gei.erations, that succession 
 ought to be admitted into some share in the 
 councils which are so deeply to affect them. 
 If justice requires this, the work itself requires 
 the aid of more minds than one age can fur- 
 nish. It is from this view of things that the 
 best legislators have been often satisfied with 
 the establishment of some sure, solid, and 
 ruling principle in government ; a power like 
 that which some of the philosophers have 
 called a plastic nature ; and having fixed the 
 principle, they have left it afterwards to its own 
 operation." 
 
 Yet how is it with the united Reformers of 
 1831 ? While parish vestries require committees 
 and enquiry to sanction their regulations ; while 
 not even ale-house licenses can be discontinued 
 without a comparison of facts and of opinions ; 
 while, to reduce a few salaries, or to confirm the 
 Civil List, demands a due measure of sedulous 
 research ; the whole representativ e system of 
 the country is re-arranged, (to use no stronger 
 term,) the whole Constitution of the Legislature 
 is established on new and arbitrary rules, fixed 
 by the impatient fancies of a few of the half- 
 employed Members of the Government ; — rights 
 destroyed ; — rights transferred ; — rights created ; 
 chauiies devised which will in all likelihood
 
 9 
 
 alter irrevocably the practical working of the 
 Constitution ; and all without one real effort to 
 supply the defects of present information, and 
 without any other apparent object but that of 
 stitching the plan together as rapidly as possi- 
 ble for use in an actual emergency. 
 
 " They commit the whole to the mercy of 
 untried speculations ; they abandon the dearest 
 interests of the public to those loose theories to 
 which none of them would choose to trust the 
 slightest of his private concerns : they make 
 this difference, because, in their desire of obtain- 
 ing and securing power, they are thoroughly 
 in earnest; there they travel in the beaten 
 road ; the public interests they abandon wholly 
 to chance ; 1 say to chance, because their 
 schemes have nothing in experience to prove 
 their tendency beneficial. 
 
 " We must always see with a pity, not un- 
 mixed with respect, the errors of those who 
 are timid and doubtful of themselves, with 
 regard to points wherein the happiness of man- 
 kind is concerned. But in these gentlemen 
 there is nothing of the tender parental solici- 
 tude, which fears to cut up the infant for the 
 sake of an experiment. In the vastness of 
 their promises, and the confidence of their pre- 
 dictions, they far outdo all the boasting of 
 empirics. The arrogance of their pretensions,
 
 10 ■ , 
 
 in a manner, provokes and challenges us to an 
 enquiry into their foundation." " In the sys- 
 tem itself, taken as a scheme for procuring 
 the prosperity and security of the citizen, 
 and for promotinj2j the strength and gran- 
 deur of the State, I confess myself unable to 
 find out any thing which displays, in a single 
 instance, the work of a comprehensive and 
 disposing mind, or even the provisions of a 
 vulgar prudence. Their purpose, every vviiere, 
 seems to have been to evade and slip aside 
 from difficulty." . . . ." They get nothing by 
 
 it." " The difficulties which they rather 
 
 had eluded than escaped, meet them again in 
 their own course; they multiply and thicken on 
 them ; they are involved through a labyrinth of 
 confused detail, in an industry without limit, 
 and without direction ; and, in conclusion, the 
 whole of their work becomes feeble, vicious, 
 and insecure." 
 
 Yet, before I proceed further, I would here 
 carefully guard myself from being supposed to 
 direct my observations against the men, or even 
 the party which compose the present Ministry, 
 as men, and as a party. I have no such dispo- 
 sition, and no such object. My business is 
 with the country, and not with men or parties ; 
 and 1 feel assured, that 1 need take no pains to 
 persuade my readers to agree witli me, that the
 
 11 
 
 question before us is too serious and over- 
 whelming to be dealt with according to such 
 views and arguments. Neither do I charge 
 them in what follows, as J have heard others 
 do by insinuation, with a wilful partiality in the 
 arrangements of the scheme. I reject the sup- 
 position, because I cannot believe that a set of 
 men, with the characters of English Gentlemen, 
 and holding the station of English Senators of 
 the nineteenth century, would descend to such 
 misconduct. Indeed, if I were disposed to admit 
 it, the cases where there might be most suspi- 
 cion, would be instancesof too clumsy knavery, 
 and too easy of detection to be hazarded by 
 men of ordinary intelligence. But, although 1 
 chai'ge them not with corruption, 1 do arraign 
 them of unnecessary, and therefore unjustiiiable 
 haste and carelessness. Whoever be the men, if 
 I caiuiot call upon them for party opinions, at 
 least, I can demand diligence and discretion. 
 But it is of far more consequence that the coun- 
 try should demand it; and it i.s to the country 
 that I call, if I give proofs, as 1 think i can, of 
 this accusation, to declare, that it will interpose 
 to check their perihnis precipitation; and that it 
 at leost will take some time to enquire and to 
 reflect, before it ventures upon thisirretreivable, 
 though doubtful ste|). 
 
 To wise, :nul [)ra('ticul, aisd piudeut States-
 
 12 
 
 men, charged with the execution of a task like 
 this, there were two obvious methods of pro- 
 ceeding open ; the first was, to fix ihe principles 
 by which their plan was to be regulated ; and 
 having done so, and made these known, to leave 
 their application for the result of subsequent 
 dehberation and assistance. 
 
 The other was, (and perhaps it would have 
 been the best,) to obtain previously, by every 
 exertion, and from all quarters, the knowledge 
 and counsel which might contribute to aid in 
 the formation of the scheme, to appropriate to 
 these purposes the time which might be really 
 requisite for their attainment, and to propose it 
 then, and not sooner, when they had used all 
 the means within their power, to arrange and 
 to mature its parts. But these methods re- 
 quired some delay : they were too dilatory, too 
 languid, for the ardent energies of the Reform- 
 ing Cabinet. Neither was their choice. Some- 
 thing to attract the clamour of the country was 
 urgently required ; and the prodigy must needs 
 start from the heads of its inventors, if possible, 
 full armed and of perfect growth, but, most as- 
 suredly, without their having gone through that 
 previous process, for securing within themselves 
 tile divine and wonder-working Counsel, from 
 whence alone they could have any right to 
 hope for so miraculous a birth.
 
 13 
 
 The course, then, which they have chosen to 
 ndopt, is one which combines the evils of both 
 the above-mentioned, without any of their ad- 
 vantages. Within three, — or if we accept their 
 own assurances — within one or two short 
 moons, they fix upon, and finally dispatch this 
 question of awful moment, and irrevocable 
 risk ; a period, scarcely more than sufficient for 
 the deliberate determination of the principles 
 upon which their proposals should be founded, 
 yet, by them, deemed not too short, for the en- 
 tire application of them in detail ; and we have 
 here the notable result, in a Bill which is pre- 
 sented to the country as complete, and which 
 we are bound so to consider, not only by its 
 own form and history, but their own ready 
 declaration ; one which shall need little, and 
 suffer less, of alteration from alien hands ; " a 
 burnished and tinsel article," to be sure, *' of 
 modern manufacture," but still the finished 
 and entire production of John Russell and 
 Company, Bill-makers, and Schedule-mongers 
 to His Majesty. 
 
 Why, then, if this be so, and if this is the 
 whole form of the measure, (some trifling 
 changes in names, and its machinery, ex- 
 cepted,) which it is the intention of Ministers 
 should be carried into actual operation, I Say, it 
 is for the people, an imperative and — if they 
 would be true to their own best and dearest
 
 14 
 
 interests an instant duty, to inspect and scruti- 
 nize its every part ; not perhaps for the value of 
 all tlie blunders and absurdities which may be 
 detected in themselves, but, at least, to determine 
 whether it has been brought to such a state, as 
 tits it to be proposed for the solemn and final 
 sanction of a great nation, proceeding to an 
 alteration of a large portion of its ancient usages 
 and institutions. 1 should take it for granted, 
 that most men must feel the necessity of a con- 
 fidence in those, who are entrusted with the 
 execution of a change like this; and if, upon 
 such an investigation, it should be found, that 
 the whole plan is replete with evidence, of 
 what must be taken, either as wanton haste or 
 thoughtless ignorance, I feel that I should be 
 justified, in calling upon that nation to with- 
 draw all confidence from such men ; — not as 
 Ministers generally, for with that 1 have here 
 no concern ; — but as the conductors of this vital 
 operation; — to interpose its own good sense, as a 
 check to the progress of their rash attempt, 
 that it may, at least itself, obtain some interval 
 for reflection; — and even to pronounce its sur- 
 prise and indignation ; (for I will avow, that such 
 an emotion arises in my mind,) at the reckless 
 precipitation, and unexampled negligence of 
 the slovenly performance, which they have 
 ventured to ask it to confirm. 
 
 But if these offences are, indeed, justly
 
 15 
 
 chargeable upon its authors, it must he ad- 
 mitted that they are iu no wise caused, and 
 therefore cannot be excused by the intricacy 
 and the nicety of their scheme. It is one which 
 requires, — luckily, asit should appear, — no very 
 eminent conjurors for its contrivance. It is 
 one, which might have been full as well devised 
 by any two or three lads drawn from any 
 counting house, with some practice in addition 
 and subtraction, and a very moderate ac- 
 quaintance with the institutions of the country ; 
 and, I question mucli, whether it would not 
 have been more accurately done by function- 
 aries of that description, than by the elevated 
 and speculative personages to whom, or to 
 some of whom, it has been committed. For 
 what is it that they do ? They first of ail take the 
 listofexistingboroughs, and lay down two or three 
 rules, like gentlemen, without giving themselves 
 the vulgar trouble of enquiring much into their 
 foundation. They then take the counties, and 
 lay down one more after the same manner. 
 Having achieved thus much, they next proceed 
 (I know not exactly by what method, whether 
 they may have chosen the very expeditious and 
 decisive one, in commcn use, and so tossed up; 
 I think it not improbable ; I am sure they 
 might as well,) to fix the points at which the 
 rules should be applied, and then, having thus
 
 16 
 
 completed the great frame-work of their plan, 
 they set themselves down with the list of places 
 on one hand, and the population returns of ten 
 years past upon the other, and actually apply 
 them, according to the indisputable authority 
 of the Parish Overseers of that period. And 
 the consummation of the whole is this : that 
 Avhereas the two main grievances for which 
 they profess to find a cure, are, first, the ex- 
 istence of rotten and close Boroughs; and, 
 secondly, the influence of Aristocratic Land- 
 lords ; they leave, after all, many not less rotten, 
 and create more closer than those which they 
 remove ; and if we are to believe their only 
 promise of a security, for the present con- 
 nexion between the different orders of the State, 
 establish not here or there, but universally, 
 that very power, by the clamour against which 
 they were originally driven to the undertaking. 
 
 But let us now look at the plan ; when, after 
 all this guarded and cautious process of preli- 
 minaries, it is presented to the Legislature of 
 the United Kingdom for enactment. 
 
 It is not long since, that the Secretary for 
 Ireland, on the introduction of that limb of 
 Reform which is to be conferred on the sister 
 island, congratulated himself upon the distinc- 
 tion by which it was preserved from all con- 
 tamination of disfranchisement. He had the
 
 17 
 
 concurrence of all reasonable men with him 
 in his exultation, and was riglit. But how 
 stands the case with this? and what the con- 
 trast? Here we find no tender solicitude to 
 spare, where it is not necessary to destroy ; no 
 anxious endeavour to adjust the measure of a 
 harsh expedient by the demands of the occa- 
 sion ; — no diffident forbearance to disturb those 
 usages and prejudices which, in the language 
 of Sir Robert Peel, are effectual, above all 
 other means, " to fortify the feeble contrivances 
 of human wisdom." The front of it is sig- 
 nalized with disfranchisement ; it bears it upon 
 its very forehead ; the first clause, and the first 
 schedule, announce it in its harshest and most 
 odious form ; and it stands inscribed, even on 
 the threshold, to face one at the first approach, 
 like that awful sentence, (nay, the very language 
 is almost prophetic, 
 
 " Per me si va nelle citta doleiiti,") 
 by which Dani<=; has marked the terrors of 
 his infernal gateway. 
 
 Here, then, are we not bound to tread softly, 
 and be careful ? Tlie question of the right 
 and power of Parliament, I will not discuss; 
 my own opinion is, that it will scarce admit 
 an argument ; but be its right and its power, 
 how unlimited soever, it is not less its bounden 
 and unalienable duty, to examine and secure, 
 
 c
 
 18 
 
 with liie most jealous caution, the strictness 
 and impartiahty of an operation, which goes 
 to confiscate undisputed privilege, with no 
 stronger reason than assumed expediency. 
 
 Thus, then, we will proceed to inspect the 
 parts of the enactment, admitting, for the pre- 
 sent, and for the convenience of discussion, 
 that, which I by no means intend thereby to 
 admit in fact, namely, the soundness of the rule 
 of former-population, which the architects of this 
 scheme have taken for their guidance. And 
 first comes Schedule A, which contains that 
 list of places from whence it is proposed thus 
 peremptorily to withdraw the whole of their 
 ancient right of separate representation. 
 
 The first name which I shall notice, is 
 Beeralston ; and I profess myself unable to 
 discover how it appears here. It must be re- 
 collected, that this Schedule is supposed to 
 contain the names of those places only, the 
 amount of whose population was, by the census 
 of 1821, of an amount below 2,000 souls. Now, 
 in the Population Abstracts, we look in vain 
 for any entry under this designation ; but we 
 find the parish of Beer- Ferris, and are informed, 
 in a note below, that " this parish includes 
 the Borough of Beeralston." I should have 
 given the Reformers credit, under these cir- 
 cumstances, for bavins:, in this instance, at
 
 19 
 
 least, taken paiiip to ascertain the real facts 
 of the case, and to distingnish between the 
 limits of the Borough and tlie Parish. But 
 they have assured us otherwise. To re* 
 move all doubt ujion this head, and for the 
 instruction of Parliament, there have been 
 laid upon the table of the House of Commons, 
 by themselves^ at their own motion, certain returns, 
 professing to be those by which this plan has 
 been arranged ; and it is remarkable, that, in 
 each of these, the name of Beeralston is to be 
 found, and, annexed to it, the only number 
 which can be assigned to it by the Population 
 Returns, namely, 2195; the amount given for 
 the Parish of Beer- Ferris. Now, if the figures 
 in these Returns are really those by which they 
 were guided, this place is the object of gross 
 injustice; or, if not, what becomes of their 
 Returns? are they not false and worthless? 
 and is it not a mockery, and an insult to Par- 
 liament, to present them with any such pre- 
 tence ? 
 
 The town of Buckingham* comes next ; a 
 
 * It seems, that the cases of Buckingham, Okehampton, 
 and Beigate, (together with those of Aldborough and 
 Malmesbury, which depend on different circumstances,) 
 have, at length, carried conviction to the minds of His 
 Majesty's Ministers; and the victims are reprieved. But 
 on no other grounds, be it observed, than were previously 
 before them. 
 
 c2
 
 20 
 
 county town, of ancient note, and, therefore, 
 having some claims to consideration, beyond 
 the mere number of its inhabitants. They 
 appear to have taken the population of this 
 
 town at 1,495. 
 
 The numbers placed opposite the name, with 
 the description of " Borough and Parish," 
 as we find upon reference to the Popu- 
 lation Abstract. But then, immediately be- 
 low it, and even classed together with it, 
 under the general term of " Buckingham 
 Borough," there stand five other divisions ; 
 and a note, at the same time, informs 
 us, that the whole parish contains .... 3,465; 
 namely, the total of those six sums; and, 
 evidently, the fair amount of the Borough 
 and Parish of Buckingham, by the Population 
 Returns ; exceeding three-fourths of those 
 which have been reserved for the class above. 
 
 In the same way we have the Borough 
 and Parish of Okehampton entered at. . 1,907, 
 the number apparently assumed for the Bill. 
 It happens, however, that a portion of the 
 Parish extends into another hundred, and 
 is, therefore, entered separately ; but if the 
 Borough and Parish be really taken, it must 
 clearly be included under that denomination, 
 and gives the true sum at 2,023. 
 
 Next we find the town of Reigate; and
 
 •21 
 
 the nuniber is taken opposite the designation 
 Borough, at 1 ,328. 
 
 Immediately beneath it, however, and, evi- 
 dently, as a mere suburb, is entered the Fo- 
 
 reigjj, at 1 ,033, 
 
 which completes the parish, and raises the 
 real population of the place to 2,961. 
 
 Yet, how is a suburb of this description, 
 and this very name, treated elsewhere, when 
 their business is to confer, instead of to de- 
 prive? and what is the difference between 
 their proceeding, when they are about to 
 create rights of their own free grace, and 
 when they are dealing with those which have 
 been enjoyed for centuries of prescription? 
 As we advance further, we shall find Kid- 
 derminster, to which it is proposed to give a 
 single representation, termed indeed in the 
 schedule " Town," — one among various in- 
 stances of vagueness and irregularity, but 
 evidently taken by the separate returns as 
 the Parish; including what is called, in the 
 Population Abstracts, " the Suburb, called 
 the Foreign;" although, that suburb lies not 
 even in the same hundred of its county ; and 
 in the same list, the town of Walsall, actually 
 designated in the schedule as the " Borough 
 and Foreign," although, the word " Parish" 
 stands against the name of Walsall in the 
 
 c 3
 
 ^2 
 
 Abstracts, and the Foreign constitutes a dis^ 
 tinct township. 
 
 The Borough of Saltash appears within a 
 few names from this last. It is entered indeed 
 in the Abstract separately, as the Borough, 
 
 at 1,548; 
 
 but, at the same time, as the only sub-di- 
 vision of the parish of St. Stephen's-by- 
 Saltash, of which the whole stands at . . 2,873; 
 a parish, bearing almost the same name, and 
 being almost the same place in point of ac- 
 tual locality. How far it is fair, in this 
 case, to condemn the franchise by such nice 
 distinction, we shall be better able to judge 
 when we have examined further, and know 
 more of the analogy of their proceedings in 
 other quarters. 
 
 To pass, therefore, to the second list, — of 
 places, which, by default of the full amount 
 of 4,000 souls, are to be amerced of but half 
 their importance in the State. In this cata- 
 logue, the entries, according to the Population 
 Abstracts, and the separate returns, compared 
 together, may be classed as follows, according 
 to their different designations : — 
 
 Borough and Parish ^ 19 
 
 Borough 5 
 
 Borough and Chapelry 1 
 
 Borough and Town 2
 
 23 
 
 BoiougU aud Township 1 
 
 Parish 7 
 
 Two Parishes 1 
 
 Three Parishes 7 
 
 Four Parishes 3 
 
 Parishes and Liberty 1 
 
 Parish and Tythings 1 
 
 Cinque Port and Two Parishes 1 
 
 Here then we have, at once, a tolerable 
 exhibition of the anomalies and uncertainty 
 of the materials with which we are compelled 
 to work. But it will be said, that these ano- 
 malies exist in fact; and that, therefore, tliey 
 may be still correct, according' to the local 
 circumstances and divisions of the country. 
 We must, therefore, take some of those few 
 cases in which we are provided with the 
 means of further investigation, and see how 
 far that may be the case, and what may 
 be their actual bearing upon the individual 
 examples. We have lately noticed that of 
 Saltash. Of the same description are the 
 following : — 
 
 Westbury*, taken at 2,117 
 
 Cockermouth 3,790 
 
 Clitheroe 3,213 
 
 * In the real Bill, which has just emerged from its chry- 
 salis, in a new form, Westbury, also, together with Leo- 
 minster, Northallerton, Tamworth, Truro, Morpeth, and 
 
 c 4
 
 24 
 
 Helston 2,671 
 
 Leominster 3,651 
 
 Lymiiigton 3,164 
 
 Wycombe 2,864 
 
 Morpeth 3,415 
 
 North AUerton 2,626 
 
 Tamworth 1,636 
 
 Now, what are the real circumstances of 
 each ? 
 
 Westbury happens to be entered distinctly 
 as the Borough, but is classed merely as a 
 sub-division of its own parish, containing, in 
 all 6,846. 
 
 Cockermouth, in the same way, a mere 
 portion of the Parish of Brigham, which 
 has 6,037. 
 
 Clitheroe, again ; of that of Whalley, with 
 84,198 ; a greater population than that proposed 
 for a double representation in Leeds, Green- 
 wich, Sheffield, or Sunderland. 
 
 Helston, classed within the parish of 
 Wendron, containing 6,864. 
 
 Leominster, taken with the numbers af- 
 fixed to the designation of " Borough and 
 Parish," yet the Parish containing .... 4,646. 
 
 Lymington, taken as the '* Borough and 
 
 "Wycombe, resumes its former buoyancy. The reasons 
 Temaiu the same. 
 
 " Return Alpheiis, the dread voice is past 
 
 " Tliiit shrunk thy streams.*'
 
 25 
 
 old Town,'" yet being altogether merely a pa- 
 rochial chapelry, as we are informed by a 
 note, within the Parish of Bold re, contain- 
 ing 5,344. 
 
 Wycombe, being actually entered as " Bo- 
 rough a)2d Parish,'' though with separate num- 
 bers; the whole parish, so designated, con- 
 taining 5,599. 
 
 Morpeth, the " Borough" classed as a sub- 
 division of its own parish, containing . . 4,292. 
 
 Northallerton, taken as the Borough and 
 TowJiship, yet forming only part of its own 
 parish, with 4,4.31 . 
 
 And Tamworth, taken at the amount of 
 what is termed the " Borough and Parish," 
 in two different hundreds ; yet with the en- 
 tire omission of the portion included in a 
 third, and of all the remainder of the parish, 
 
 which contains, altogether 7,285 ; 
 
 although, one of the divisions, included in 
 that remainder, we are again informed, by a 
 note in the Abstract, actually forms part of 
 the streets of the town itself. 
 
 Two more instances, in this list, I must 
 still notice, as examples not less remarkable 
 than the above, but which do not dej)end 
 upon precisely the same circumstances. The 
 first is Guildford, and the second Truro. The 
 entry of Guildford, in the Abstract, takes
 
 2n 
 
 the JBorougli separately, at .... 3,I(ii; 
 yet part of one of its own parishes is omittecJ, 
 and the whole of another, termed Stoke-next- 
 Guildford; which is known, in fact, to be a 
 portion of the town, and which contain, alto- 
 gether, the sum of 4,770. 
 
 And Truro Borough is taken at . . 2,712; 
 while a note, upon the same page, remarks, 
 that the town is, in fact, three times as po- 
 pulous, or contains (i, 136. 
 
 The reply to any remark upon the inconsis- 
 tencies of such cases, will be, of course, that it 
 was not intended to take the parish, or any 
 other division, as the acknowledged limit, by 
 the extent of which the right of franchise should 
 be adjudged ; but, on the contrary, to decide 
 by that to which the privilege has actually 
 attached. The rule may be rational enough; 
 and I know not that any one would have reason 
 to complain of its universal and impartial appli- 
 cation. But how are the true facts with the 
 arrangement, as it stands before the country ? 
 Let us recollect what is the precise nature of 
 these examples. They are all places in which, 
 according to certain descriptions assigned to 
 them in the Population Abstract, of various 
 import, though seeming to approach to the 
 definition of the true line of chartered limit, 
 the mimbers assumed as the test of quali-
 
 27 
 
 fication, fall within one rule; while, by the 
 addition of some contiguous apjiendage, in- 
 cluding, or included, they would be at once 
 brought within another. In the instances which 
 have been stated, this addition is refused, by 
 the most rigorous observance of antiquated 
 sub-divisions ; but when we advance further, 
 and arrive at the distribution of new franchise, 
 we find tiiis strict practice totally disregarded 
 and forgotten, in order to qualify those who are 
 called in to appropriate these sequestered rights. 
 In one place, there are two or three parishes 
 thrown together to make up a place for double 
 representation ; in another, two towns, at no 
 less than eight miles distance, united, to create 
 a title for one Member ; and we meet, at each 
 step, with parishes, containing five, fifteen, or 
 five and twenty townships, chapelries, and 
 other sub-divisions, classed according to the 
 simple total of their aggregate importance. 
 Why, with such inconsistency of selection, such 
 disregard of equity, which of these sentenced 
 Boroughs will not be justified if it complain, 
 and if it protest against the inequality of prac- 
 tice, which gives to an arbitrary rule all force 
 to create, yet denies it all efficacy to save ? 
 
 But, most certainly, they will be still less 
 content, when they inspect the very catalogue
 
 28 
 
 in which they are themselves disposed, and iiiid 
 such examples as the following ; — 
 
 Wilton, taken as a Borough and Parish, at 
 but 2058. 
 
 And East Grinstead, by the same denomi- 
 nation at 3153. 
 
 The former including, as a note informs us, 
 several other sub-divisions, and containing 
 *' many who were occupied in the woollen 
 manufactory ; yet, that branch of trade not 
 being prosperous, are now employed in Lord 
 Pembroke's Park, and in making roads, and 
 other alterations about the town," or, in other 
 words, supported by charity, and the Poor- 
 rates ; and the latter forming, not only a parish, 
 but a hundred, in itself, and bearing with it, in 
 one of the separate returns, this information, 
 that ** the Borough is believed to contain about 
 one-third of the ])arish ;" or, in fact, no more 
 
 than 1,051 ; 
 
 and in the more fortunate rank immediately 
 
 above them, 
 
 Christchurch, assumed at the saving nnmber 
 
 of 4644 ; 
 
 by the assistance of eight tithings returned 
 distinctly in 1811, and 
 
 Horsham, at 4575 ; 
 
 but only by the united sum of three separate
 
 ?9 
 
 parts, whereof one is detiomiiiated the Borougli, 
 and which were, hkewise, distinguished in that 
 former census. 
 
 Not to mention various others of a like 
 description, or those which are taken in these 
 Schedules, by the parish, or some such name, 
 yet which are actually stated in the abovemen- 
 tioned return, to exceed, in different degrees, 
 the real limits of the Borough. 
 
 What, then, is the result of this investigation ? 
 Must not our conclusion in truth be this, that 
 how good and useful soever those returns may 
 be for other purposes, they are confused and 
 inaccurate for this, and monstrously unfit to 
 depend upon, when we are disposing for ever 
 of the privileges and rights of ages ? And could 
 it well be otherwise? We have to deal with 
 various and complicated divisions upon which 
 the enjoyment of those rights depends; and 
 yet we are called upon to trust entirely to the 
 answers of a number of parish officers, to a 
 general question upon population, and delivered 
 in a manner which may be somewhat appre- 
 ciated by the observations prefixed to the 
 abstract ; but, perhaps, still more by the inspec- 
 tion of another return, which has been already 
 cited, and wherein are statements, shewing, 
 that, in no fewer than forty-five cases, the ac- 
 tual limits are less than are given in that ab-
 
 30 
 
 stract, — ii) eight larger, and in nine (liflferent, 
 without specification; while, in 127 others, 
 there -is no remark made, althongh some are 
 manifestly, (and how many more it would be 
 difficult to say,) equally inaccurate ; and, after 
 all, is this entire dependence unavoidable? It 
 may be convenient, indeed, but I know not why 
 means taken for enquiry of the same kind in 
 one quarter, may not also l)e extended to 
 another; and they appear, in some operations, 
 to have thought it worth while to provide for 
 the due settlement of sucli questions, by the 
 appointment of a Committee in tlie Bill for 
 that specific purpose, whose employment must, 
 for aught I see, be much of this very nature. 
 
 During the course of these observations, how- 
 ever, it must be recollected, that one point has 
 been admitted, without dispute, upon which 
 rests the whole of our subject matter, namely, 
 the assumption that population constitutes the 
 just rule whereby the representative franchise 
 should be distributed. Now is this, after all, 
 the truth ? For my own part, weie the docu- 
 ments and inferences upon which we have 
 been employed, all correct, I should still, 
 on this ground, be disposed to question their 
 present use. It would seem, that even the 
 contiivers of the scheme themselves, had some 
 misgivings upon the subject, and a glimpse of
 
 31 
 
 better light, for having determined Die quarters 
 wherein they woiihl vest the franchise, by the 
 bare test of population, they think it necessary 
 to restrict its exercise by the qualifications of 
 property. But they do more ; for, finding that 
 this restriction leaves them in divers instances 
 perplexed, by a deficiency, on the other hand, 
 in the numbers which they consider necessary, 
 for the proper measure of the constituent 
 bodies, they betake themselves to an ingenious 
 and somewhat singular expedient. They pro- 
 pose the appointment of a Committee from the 
 Privy Council, to remedy the evil, with powers, 
 not directed to the annexation of additional 
 numbers, by the same rule of population, but 
 left free to the discretionary choice of " any 
 parishes or townships adjoining, or outlying 
 portions," as they shall deem convenient for the 
 purposes of election. 
 
 Why, this very Committee would find itself 
 compelled, in the execution of its duty, to con- 
 tradict at once the fitness of the principle, upon 
 which its masters had founded all their opera- 
 tions ; and they would be doomed, upon the 
 iirst occasion, to behold this Frankinstein of 
 their own creation, break from their controul, 
 and disown the example, while it threw aside 
 the most cherished precepts, of its creators. 
 For how must it proceed ? Let us imagine it
 
 32 
 
 engaged upon some deficient Borough : let us 
 suppose it casting its eye over the neighbour- 
 hood for a supply of becoming voters. Would 
 it, if it did its duty with discretion, fix upon 
 some swarming suburb of crowded hovels ; or 
 would it not rather apply itself to some more 
 inviting appendage, of well built and well kept 
 houses, if it were to be found, not wanting 
 indeed in its proportion of inhabitants, but 
 combining in their habitations the evidence of 
 property, and the presumption of comparative 
 intelligence. If we can imagine it, thus pro- 
 viding, for instance, for the wants of London, 
 would they seek the remedy in the purlieus of 
 Shadwell, and of Wapping ; or in the decent 
 streets and substantial dwellings of Islington 
 and Pentonville ? We may pursue the ques- 
 tion further, and we shall see hovv the contents 
 of these very documents bear upon the diffi- 
 culty. Take a few names, the most obvious that 
 may occur, and it will be found, for instance, 
 that in Liverpool the houses are 19,007, and 
 the families inhabiting them 25,309, or nearly 
 one third more. 
 
 Manchester 
 
 Canterbury, 
 
 Worcester, 
 
 Newcastle on Tyne, 
 
 Norwich, 
 
 Heading, 
 
 Houses. 
 
 21,15G 
 2,408 
 3,037 
 4,031 
 
 10,624 
 2,446 
 
 Families. 
 28,318 
 2,890 
 3,786 
 8,297 
 12,478 
 2,806 
 
 about 1-third more 
 do. 1-sixth do. 
 
 above 1 -fourth do. 
 
 more than double 
 
 above 1-fifth more 
 do. 1-sixth do.
 
 33 
 
 And, surely, it is not unreasonable to say, 
 that some inference may be drawn from these 
 proportions as to the condition of the popula- 
 tion ; as that in Liverpool and Newcastle, the 
 amount is swelled by classes, whose wandering 
 profession gives them few connexions and small 
 stakes on shore; in Canterbury and Reading, 
 it is mainly composed of those whose circum- 
 stances are directly the reverse ; and so of all the 
 rest. If I am not deceived, the rule adopted 
 in one great precedent, at least, the Irish Union, 
 had reference to these considerations ; although 
 I have it not in my power to say, precisely, in 
 what it may have consisted. But I will ask 
 my readers to cast their eyes over the following- 
 tables, and they will see how the numbers, 
 arranged with what means of adaptation we 
 have to these parts of the question, affect the 
 order of the present plan. 
 
 SCHEDULE 
 
 Boroughs. 
 1 . Warehani .... 
 
 A. 
 
 Houses. 
 . . 417 
 
 1. 
 2. 
 
 3. 
 4. 
 5. 
 
 SCHEDULE 
 
 Boroughs. 
 Liskeard .... 
 
 B. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 
 414 
 
 
 Ashburton 
 Dorchester 
 Wilton 
 
 . 411 
 
 . . 405 
 . 405 
 
 
 VVallingford . . 
 
 . 386 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 2. Wooton Basse tt. . 
 
 379 
 
 
 
 
 
 6. Beeralston 
 
 .. 370 
 
 
 
 7. Totness 
 
 . . 356 
 
 3. Aldeburgh .... 
 
 268 
 
 
 
 4. Bedwin 
 
 349 
 
 
 
 5. Bishop's Castle . . 
 
 344 
 
 
 
 6. Brackley 
 
 354 
 
 
 
 7. Buckingham .... 
 
 287 
 
 
 
 8. Corfe Castle 
 
 283 
 
 
 
 9. Eye 
 
 340 
 
 
 
 10. Fowey 
 
 317 
 
 
 
 11. Malmesbury .... 
 
 275 
 
 
 
 12. Milborne 
 
 298 
 
 
 
 13. Minehead .... 
 
 265 
 
 
 
 14. Newton (Lane). . 
 
 275 
 
 
 
 15. Okehampton .... 
 
 315 
 
 
 
 16. Petersfield 
 
 262 
 
 
 
 17. St. M awes 
 
 316 
 
 
 
 18. St. Michael 
 
 348 
 
 
 
 19. Wendover .... 
 
 281 
 
 
 
 20. Whitchurch 
 
 268 
 
 
 
 21. Woodstock 
 
 258 
 
 
 
 22. Heytesbury .... 
 
 253 
 
 8. Launceston . . . , 
 
 , . . 253 
 
 SCHEDULE A. 
 
 Houses rated 
 at £10., and 
 Boroughs. upwards. 
 
 1. Woodstock ..•• 90 
 
 2. Reigate 78 
 
 SCHEDULE B. 
 
 Houses rated 
 at £10., and 
 Boroughs. upwards. 
 
 1. Hythe 
 
 2. Thetford 
 
 77 
 77
 
 35 
 
 75 
 
 3. 
 
 75 
 
 4. 
 
 
 5, 
 
 
 6. 
 
 S. Buckingham 
 4. Malmesbury 
 
 5. Appleby 65 
 
 (J. Midhurst G5 
 
 7. 
 
 7. Petersfield .... 54 8. 
 
 8. Wareham ...... 53 
 
 9. Fowey 46 
 
 10. Hedon 44 
 
 11. Okehampton .... 42 9. 
 
 12. Bishop's Castle . . 38 
 
 13. Lostwithiel 37 
 
 14. Minehead 36 
 
 15. Plympton 39 
 
 16. Seaford 36 
 
 17. Wootton Bassett . . 36 
 
 18. Saltash 34 10. 
 
 19. Callington 32 
 
 20. Aldeburgh 31 
 
 21. Eye 29 
 
 22. Stockbridge ..... 31 
 
 11. 
 
 23. Brackley 25 12. 
 
 24. Boroughbridge . . . . 18 
 
 25. Haslemere .... 16 
 
 26. Heytesbury .... 21 
 
 27. E. Looe 20 
 
 28. Newton (Lane.) .• 19 
 
 29. Orford 20 
 
 30. Roraney 24 
 
 31. Steyning 18 
 
 32. Whitchurch 21 
 
 Marlow 75 
 
 Shaftesbury «... 75 
 
 Thirsk 75 
 
 Droitwich 69 
 
 Clitheroe 60 
 
 Ashburton 54 
 
 £. Grinstead 
 
 42 
 
 Wilton 34 
 
 St. Ives 26 
 
 Amersham 25 
 
 D 2
 
 33. Camelford 14 13. Westbury • 
 
 34. Wendover ..... 14 
 
 35. Yarmoutli(I.ofWight)14 
 
 36. Winchelsea 13 14. St. Germains 
 
 37. Corfe Castle .... 11 
 
 38. Hindon 11 
 
 39. Ilchester 11 
 
 40. Milborne 11 
 
 41. Queenborough •• 11 
 
 42. Tregony 11 
 
 43. St. Mawes •.•• 9 15. Downton 
 
 14 
 
 13 
 
 SCHEDULE B. 
 
 UNTOUCHED. 
 
 Boroughs. 
 
 1. Leominster 
 
 2. Sudbury 
 
 3. St. Ives 
 
 4. Cockermouth 
 
 5. Evesham >. 
 
 6. Richmond 
 
 7. Tamworth 
 
 8. Grimsby 
 
 Houses. 
 ■ 854 
 . 843 
 
 Boroughs. 
 
 Houses. 
 
 772 
 
 766 
 746 
 748 
 747 
 
 734 
 
 1. Horsham 819 
 
 2. Andover 810 
 
 3. Barnstaple 805 
 
 4. Malton 774 
 
 5. Winchester 
 
 6. Grantham 
 
 7. St. Albans 
 
 769 
 766 
 
 744 
 
 8 Newport(I.Wight) 716
 
 
 
 9. Honiton 
 
 10. Rye 
 
 11. Amersham 
 
 12. Bridport •• 
 
 13. Chippenham 
 
 14. Clitheroe •• 
 
 15. Downtou 
 
 16. Guildford 
 
 17. Huntingdon 
 
 18. Lymington 
 
 19. Maldon 
 
 20. Marlow 
 
 21. Northallerton 
 
 22. Penryn 
 
 23. Sandwich 
 
 24. Shaftesbury 
 
 25. Thetford 
 
 26. Thirsk .... 
 
 27. Wycombe 
 
 28. Marlborough 
 
 9. Tavistock •••• 710 
 
 10. Harwich 699 
 
 697 
 
 11. Hertford 656 
 
 616 
 
 12. Dartmouth 607 
 
 494 
 
 604 
 541 
 550 
 582 
 560 
 538 
 543 
 606 
 494 
 567 
 498 
 578 
 605 
 602 
 591 
 519 
 488 13 Devizes • • • • 488 
 
 SCHEDULE B. 
 
 Houses rated 
 at £10., and 
 Boroughs. upwards. 
 
 1. Dorchester .... 231 
 
 UNTOUCHED. 
 
 Boroughs. 
 
 1. Lewes 
 
 2. Bridgnorth 
 
 Houses rated 
 
 at £10., and 
 
 upwards. 
 
 .... 230 
 .... 220 
 
 d3
 
 38 
 
 2. 
 
 Guildford 
 
 213 
 
 3. 
 
 Totness 
 
 213 
 
 4. 
 
 Wycombe • • • • 
 
 206 
 
 5. 
 
 Huntingdon • . • • 
 
 200 
 
 6. 
 
 Leominster • • • • 
 
 195 
 
 7. 
 
 Truro 
 
 190 
 
 8. 
 
 Lymington • • • •. 
 
 189 
 
 9. 
 
 Honiton 
 
 180 
 
 10. 
 
 Chippenham • • • • 
 
 180 
 
 11. 
 
 Evesham 
 
 178 
 
 12. 
 
 Richmond • • • • 
 
 175 
 
 13. 
 
 Morpeth 
 
 162 
 
 14. 
 
 Bridport 
 
 146 
 
 15. 
 
 Bodmin 
 
 139 
 
 16. 
 
 Lyme 
 
 135 
 
 17. 
 
 Maldon 
 
 133 
 
 18. 
 
 Marlborough • • • • 
 
 140 
 
 19. 
 
 Sandwich • • • • 
 
 125 
 
 20. 
 
 Tamvvorth • • • • 
 
 137 
 
 21. 
 
 AValliugford .... 
 
 124 
 
 22. 
 
 Arundel 
 
 120 
 
 23. 
 
 Cockermouth . • • 
 
 101 
 
 24. 
 
 Grimsby 
 
 94 
 
 25. 
 
 Helston 
 
 112 
 
 26. 
 
 Launceston . • • 
 
 93 
 
 3. Grantham 228 
 
 4. Andover 207 
 
 5. Bedford 209 
 
 6. Knaresborough . • 203 
 
 7. Ripon 195 
 
 8. Staflbrd 190 
 
 9. Pontefract 
 
 184 
 
 10. Wells 173 
 
 11. Harwich 170 
 
 12. Horsham .... 165 
 
 13. Rochester .... 156 
 
 14. Malton 146 
 
 15. Calne 
 
 124
 
 39 
 
 27. Liskeard 95 
 
 28. Northallerton •• 107 
 
 29. Penryii 112 
 
 30. Rye 95 
 
 31. Sudbury 108 
 
 32. Ashburton 54 
 
 33. Clitheroe 60 
 
 34. Droitwich 69 
 
 35. Grinstead .... 42 
 
 36. Hythe 77 
 
 37. Marlow 75 
 
 38. Shaftesbury •. 75 
 
 39. Thetford 77 
 
 40. Thirsk 75 
 
 16. Christchurch 
 
 80 
 
 17 Wenlock 36 
 
 The result is striking, and needs no ex- 
 explanation. For my own part, I cannot 
 doubt, that, in many cases, it points out the 
 true rank of places, although with a smaller 
 population, yet having more wealth, and a 
 better distribution of it in their proportion; 
 and when I find among the names, in Sche- 
 dule A., condemned 
 
 Popu- £10. Rates, 
 
 latiou. and upwards. 
 
 Buckingham, with the numbers. . 1495 73 
 
 Woodstock 1455 90 
 
 Reigate 1328 78 
 
 Wareham 1931 53 
 
 D 4
 
 40 
 And saved, in Schedule B. 
 
 St. Germains 2404 13 
 
 Westbury 2117 14 
 
 Amersham 2612 25 
 
 Downton 3114 9 
 
 In Schedule B. again, 
 
 Dorchester 2743 231 
 
 Totness 3128 213 
 
 Guildford 3161 213 
 
 Wycombe 2864 206 
 
 Huntingdon 2806 200 
 
 Condemned, and 
 
 Christchurch .' 4644 80 
 
 Wenloek 17265 36 
 
 Calne 4549 124 
 
 Malton 4005 146 
 
 Rochester, 9309 156 
 
 untouched; I am tempted to believe, that 
 the partial principle by which they have been 
 disposed of, has in it something which is 
 essentially defective. 
 
 After these provisions of the Bill then, out 
 of the abundance of the liberated franchises 
 which they have supplied, and which seem, 
 from the wish to throw a large number en- 
 tirely away, to have produced even what the 
 French call an embarras dc richesses, it is pro- 
 posed to assign a [)roportion to that which 
 has always been considered the soundest and
 
 41 
 
 steadiest part of the constituent system,— the 
 county representation; and for this purpose, 
 are selected by the same method of the Popu- 
 lation Returns alone, what are designated as 
 the twenty-seven largest counties, to be di- 
 vided into convenient parts by the same om- 
 nilicent Privy Council. But even upon this 
 simple principle, let it be observed, how the 
 selection has been executed. We were told, 
 that, from the operation of the Bill, one of 
 the advantages to be gained, was, that the 
 represented towns would be withdrawn from 
 the constituent numbers of the counties. As 
 far as the smaller freeholders are concerned, 
 I do not see how this is the case ; but we are 
 told so, — and it follows, that if this promise 
 be not a mere mockery, the population of 
 the represented towns should be subtracted 
 from that of their respective counties, in es- 
 tablishing the scale of their precedency. But 
 this would have been too troublesome a cal- 
 culation; and there is none of it. Yet, it is 
 but bare justice that it should be made; for 
 if the additional representation of the counties 
 is to be fixed by population, it must be, in all 
 fairness, by that portion of the population 
 only, which has an interest in such county 
 representation ; and not, that is to say, by the 
 portions which have a direct representation
 
 42 
 
 of their own. 1 have, therefore, adopted this 
 process, as with the Boroughs ; first, by the 
 simple rule of enumerated inhabitants; and, 
 secondly, by that of the rated habitations of 
 £10. and upwards. The result is, that, ex- 
 cluding the County of Middlesex, and the 
 Ridings of Yorkshire, out of twenty-seven 
 counties, selected in the Bill, there are, by 
 the former, • four of those which have been 
 totally omitted, having a prior right to Cum- 
 berland ; no less than six to Nottingham ; and 
 standing thus in actual numbers: — 
 
 SELECTED. OMITTED.* 
 
 Counties. Population. Counties. Population. 
 
 Bucks 121,600 
 
 Herts 120,977 
 
 Dorset 119,830 
 
 Oxford 118,674 
 
 Cumberland •• 115,387 
 
 Cambridge 107,767 
 
 Berks 100,182 
 
 Notts. 104,349 
 
 * Here they now propose, on their second thoughts, to 
 •' split the difference," (as in tlie question respecting the 
 whole numbers of ;the House, where they now annihilate 
 only thirty-one seats, instead of sixty-two,) by taking- 
 these counties, together with Herefordshire, and giving 
 to them a triple franchise, unknown to the Constitution in
 
 43 
 
 While, according to the latter, as appears 
 by the following list, the result is still more 
 striking. 
 
 EXCLUDED. 
 
 Houses rated 
 at £10., and 
 Counties. upwards. 
 
 Hertford 2931 
 
 SELECTED. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Houses rated 
 
 at £10., and 
 
 upwards. 
 
 Worcester 2896 
 
 Chester 2639 
 
 Leicester 2502 
 
 Lincoln 2484 
 
 any other case. The change matters nothing to the ar- 
 gument, since there is still a selection for unequal favour. 
 But will it matter nothing to the practical working of the 
 system? In small bodies, such as those few towns which 
 return but one Member each, the principle is of no mo- 
 ment, which would provide for the equal representation 
 of majorities and large minorities, by a double franchise. 
 But, in more numerous collections of men, such as counties, 
 and great towns, it is a principle of a most wise and sa- 
 lutary operation; not prevailing against public opinion, 
 where it declares itself strongly on one side, but where 
 parties are nearly balanced, acting constantly by the gentle 
 and peaceful means of compromise and conciliation. It 
 needs but one moment's reflection, to perceive that this new 
 whim is no more than a provision for the propagation of 
 perpetual contests. But, truly, these schoolboy lawgivers 
 seem to think that they have no graver business to perform, 
 than just to put a few figures together, according to their 
 fancy.
 
 44 
 
 Berks 2017 
 
 Dorset 1G76 
 
 Bucks 1449 
 
 Oxford 1440 
 
 Monmouth 1395 
 
 Sussex 2364 
 
 Wilts 2285 
 
 Durham 2191 
 
 Norfolk 2186 
 
 Cornwall 2072 
 
 Salop 1866 
 
 Notts 1658 
 
 Derby 1486 
 
 Northampton • • • 1301 
 Cumberland • • • • 1244 
 
 So that the County of Hertford stands above 
 14 of those which have been selected ; Berk- 
 shire, above five ; Dorsetshire, above four ; 
 and there still remain two below the Shires of 
 Buckingham, of Oxford, and of Monmouth. 
 Nor is the difference entirely confined to the 
 comparative claims of the individual Counties, 
 for it will be observed, that independently of 
 the variation in the interests, with which each 
 may be connected, it raises a more considerable 
 proportion of the wealth of the southern and 
 midland districts of the kingdom, against the 
 overwhelming amount, but inferior condition 
 of the multitudes, supplied by the concentrated 
 trade and manufactures of the North. 
 
 I have omitted, in these calculations, the
 
 45 
 
 names of Middlesex, and of the three Yorkshire 
 Ridings; but if I were asked the reason, I 
 should be somewhat perplexed to give a better, 
 than that I found it so in the subject of my 
 examination. That which would be alleged, 
 I apprehend, for the neglect of Middlesex, is 
 that it is small in its extent, but a Metropo- 
 litan County, and, therefore, too much identi- 
 fied with that point of copious representation, 
 to be considered distinctly from the connection 
 to which it owes its whole importance. The rea- 
 soning may be good ; but if so, what becomes of 
 the case of Surrey, a County, scarcely less Me- 
 tropolitan, and certainly owing its station to 
 the same circumstance ; and I cannot quite 
 appreciate the delicate discrimination, which 
 permits Surrey to exalt itself upon the qualifi- 
 cations of Bermondsey, and Clapham, above 
 the population of seventeen of the chosen Coun- 
 ties, while it rejects the claim of Middlesex to 
 the first place in the scale, upon those of Brent- 
 ford, of Chelsea, and of Hackney. But the 
 treatment of the three Yorkshire Ridings is still 
 more singular, and less intelligible ; the West 
 Riding would be placed by a population of 
 356,027 souls, above all, save Lancashire and 
 Middlesex : yet it is left with but two Mem- 
 bers, while Nottinghamshire, with less than 
 one-third of the sum, is to be provided with
 
 4G 
 
 four. The North Riding, although it ranks, by 
 the same rule, above nine of those named in 
 the Schedule, and the East, even above two, 
 are both in like manner forgotten : but the 
 most curious part of the whole matter is, that 
 the Ainsty, as it is termed, or, in other words, 
 the County of the City of York, hitherto 
 classed with the population of the latter, which 
 amounts only to 123,119, is to be subtracted 
 from that quarter, and thrown into the North, 
 which contains already no less than 162,138, 
 without any such addition. 
 
 I am aware, that in all that part of the fore- 
 going observations, which proceed upon the 
 qualification of a rated rent, I am open, in the 
 first place, to the argument, that it is, after all, a 
 fallacious test of property, inasmuch as the 
 very situation of such property, in various neigh- 
 bourhoods, with other extraneous circumstances, 
 may fix its relative values, independently of 
 the real comparative worth of the property it- 
 self. But the truth is, that the objection is not 
 sound beyond a certain point ; for whatever 
 may be the causes which decide that value, 
 the very ability to occupy property at a given 
 rate, is an evidence of corresponding means, 
 and therefore, if the rate is assumed at a proper 
 point — of sufficient wealth ; but I feel that I 
 am also liable to a more serious objection, in
 
 47 
 
 the obvious imperfection of the documents upon 
 which I have relied. To this, I can only- 
 answer, that they are none of mine. I am com- 
 pelled to use such as are attainable by ordinary 
 means. 
 
 It is true, that those returns, which have been 
 made out by local functionaries, must vary 
 greatly, according to the assessment of the local 
 rates from whence they are made up, which is 
 in some cases fixed upon one half, in others, 
 upon two thirds, and in others again, upon four- 
 fifths, or other quotients, of the actual rent; 
 and that, even in those which have the autho- 
 rity of the Tax Office, it is probable, that the 
 numbers would, in the event of the proposed 
 change, be generally raised, either by a collu- 
 sive agreement between the landlord and the 
 tenant, or by a sacrifice upon the part of the 
 latter. Yet be the weight of these difficulties 
 what it may with others, to these prurient 
 Reformers, at least, they appear to have given 
 no material embarrassment, for they no sooner 
 appropriate the principle, than they seem to 
 think that they cannot have too much of it; and 
 instead of endeavouring so to moderate its use, 
 as to gather something from an experience of 
 its effects, before all is committed to the hazard 
 of its failure, they apply it with a zeal, so need- 
 less and indiscriminate, as (excluding Wales,
 
 48 
 
 and the Boroughs of which the franchise is now 
 vested in the hundreds,) still to leave the whole 
 of the Schedule B., together with thirty-five 
 other places, with less than the numbers upon 
 which they have fixed as the proper measure 
 for a constituent body, whereof thirty-eight 
 want half ; twenty-one, two-thirds ; and eight, 
 five-sixths ; — and as almost to induce one to 
 suspect, for lack of some better explanation, 
 that the whole must be, after all, only a sly trick 
 of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's, to turn 
 an honest penny by the Assessed Taxes, in the 
 Budgets of the ensuing years. 
 
 In spite, however, of the prevailing confusion 
 to which our attention has been hitherto directed, 
 they are here and there, upon occasions, — but 
 always, be it observed, where it costs no trouble 
 beyond the caprice itself, — subject to attacks of 
 fastidious, I had almost said morbid, fondness 
 for regularity, which exhibit them and their 
 works in the most curious aspect. A very re- 
 markable instance of this afi"ection is to be found 
 in a concise Schedule, which enumerates cer- 
 tain small districts, entitled counties of cities 
 and towns, which are scattered in small num- 
 bers through the kingdom. They are divisions 
 few in number, and easy of recognition, often 
 containing a mere extension of the population 
 of the principal place, and from which it has
 
 49 
 
 not even been alleged that any evil or inconve- 
 nience has arisen. It would be difficult to 
 assign any good reason for disturbing them, 
 except that they are ancient and not modern 
 anomalies; but, what Burke has called the 
 **quadrimonious activity" of these gentlemen 
 cannot now brook the continuance of such flaws 
 in the uniformity of their system, and these 
 limits are consequently abolished, for the pur- 
 poses of election; at the same time that the 
 before mentioned Committee of the Privy 
 Council is sent to recruit their number under 
 other names, and in other quarters, in their 
 circuit of annexation. 
 
 We will pass over such blunders as the provi- 
 sion that the freeholders of the County of Bris- 
 tol, for example, shall vote for that of Somerset, 
 when above six-sevenths of the population of 
 the place belong to the Shire of Gloucester;* but 
 there is one point deserving of remark, to which 
 I am here led by the suggestions of analogy. 
 Of much the same character as these partial dis- 
 tricts, are those which have been created by the 
 extension of suffrage, in some cases, from a bo- 
 rough to its hundred. They are, 
 
 * This their intense industry, since they produced their 
 first Bill, for the sanction of Parliament, seems to have 
 enabled them to discover.
 
 50 
 
 Aylesbury, with a population of . 16,671 
 
 Cricklade 11,661 
 
 East Retford 34,025 
 
 Shoreham 26,940 
 
 Under cover of these numbers, they are for- 
 tunate enough to escape the withering influence 
 of this unsparing Bill. But now mark what 
 happens. There is a clause enacted to establish 
 universally the favourite ten pounds franchise ; 
 and provided with two exceptions, in favour, 
 first, of all existing "corporate rights;" and, 
 secondly, of ** rights to vote by reason of own- 
 ing or occupying any tenement," or, in other 
 words, of burgage tenure; and this is all. 
 Whatever doubts there may exist in other res- 
 pects, it seems clear from the letter of this 
 clause, as well as from the spirit of the system, 
 that the freeholders of these incorporated dis- 
 tricts should be again confined to their single 
 and original county vote. Thus, according to 
 the inevitable doom, the detected borough must, 
 at length, be stripped of their borrowed popula- 
 tion ; and will stand as follows, after the morti- 
 fying process : — 
 
 Aylesbury • 4,400 
 
 Cricklade 1,506 
 
 East Retford 2,465 
 
 Shoreham 1 ,047 
 
 Aylesbury, indeed, just escapes further muti-
 
 61 
 
 lation ; but East Retford must submit to the loss 
 of half its franchise, according to the inexorable 
 law of condemnation; while Cricklade and 
 Shoreham must both forfeit the whole of their 
 representative existence. Yet, suppose they 
 should be spared with Aylesbury, their muster 
 of the £10. rents would stand thus : 
 
 Aylesbury 120 
 
 Cricklade 94 
 
 East Retford 124 
 
 Shoreham 26 
 
 And that disrespectful and unruly Committee 
 would again step in, to dishonour and undo the 
 arrangements of its makers; and in order to fill 
 up the indispensable complement of electors, in 
 defiance of all fihal decency, recal those very 
 multitudes which they had just thought fit, in 
 the fulness of their wisdom, to dismiss.* 
 
 But enough of this. We will now turn to that 
 part of the projected measure, which I will do 
 them the justice to believe, was to them, as it 
 would have been to every one else, a more wel- 
 come and agreeable department of their duty ; 
 and to which, indeed, they seem to have set 
 
 * Here, again, they have at last found out their own 
 disgraceful absurdity; and they seem to think, that the 
 best way of getting out of the scrape, is to be before-hand 
 with the Privy Council. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 
 
 themselves with so great avidity, as to have 
 impaired their powers not only of calculation, 
 but even of perception. In a short clause, with 
 two Schedules " to match," is comprised the 
 enactment, conferring upon certain places, for 
 the first time, the enjoyment of the elective 
 franchise. Let us look into the first list, — of 
 towns destined for the full complement of re- 
 presentation. The names of Manchester, Bir- 
 mingham, and Leeds, commence the catalogue; 
 and in Manchester there is one of those rare 
 and fitful symptoms of special enquiry and dis- 
 crimination, which this performance occasionally 
 presents.* Every other place within this list has 
 been defined according to the boundary of pa- 
 rishes, one or more ; with Manchester it is 
 otherwise, and only a fraction of its own parish 
 is assumed (for reasons good and powerful, no 
 doubt, but not very obvious), by a specification 
 of eight out of twenty-eight townships and 
 chapelries, which compose the total. It cannot 
 be that the excluded divisions are comparatively 
 insignificant, for they contained in 1821 more 
 than 29,000 inhabitants within no very inordi- 
 nate space ; it cannot be that the whole sum 
 
 * It is now proposed to give a separate Member to 
 Salford, a mere fraction, — hardly to be called a suburb, — 
 of Manchester town !
 
 53 
 
 would be too enormous for combination, be- 
 cause they would produce not more than 
 186,942 inhabitants, while, within a short dis- 
 tance, we meet with Halifax*, whose parish 
 presents no less than 185,768 ; it cannot be 
 that it is wished to leave them in the county, 
 because we are told that one of the promised 
 improvements of the Bill will be to withdraw 
 from such connexions the like masses of town 
 population ; neither can it be from apprehen- 
 sion of the extent of such a district, for we 
 shall soon see how far it is exceeded. And, 
 without devoting more time to so hopeless a 
 speculation, we will proceed to a remarkable 
 instance of this latter quality in the case of 
 Halifax. This parish is described by its His- 
 torian Watson as being " from S. E. to N.W. 
 near 20 miles, and from E. to W. about 17;" 
 and by another author as extending 1 6 miles in 
 length by 5 or 6 in width, (giving an area of at 
 least 80 square miles), and being reputed as 
 the largest in England. The number belonging 
 to the township of Halifax alone is only 12,628; 
 but, for the purposes of the new system, the 
 whole is to be taken together, with no less than 
 
 * The fruit is, after all, refused to the Parish of Halifax, 
 which was thus tantalized, and is to be halved, and given 
 to the Totvnship. 
 
 E 3
 
 54 
 
 23 subdivisions; and, as we have before ob- 
 served, a population of 185,768. Now, let it 
 here be recollected how many boroughs have 
 suffered a relentless extinction in a former por- 
 tion of the Bill, because the benefit of this 
 method of calculation was deiiied them ; that 
 among the rest that of Clitheroe was deprived of 
 half its actual representation, although a part of 
 the parish of Whalley, and containing the towns of 
 Burnley and Colne, with a population of 84,198 
 inhabitants ; while 
 
 Leeds, with 83,796 
 
 Greenwich, &c. with 58,538 
 
 Sheffield, with 65,275 
 
 Wolverhampton, &c. with 47,578 
 
 have been admitted to the whole privilege. 
 And one more, with the appearance of which in 
 this place one cannot but be somewhat puzzled, 
 namely, Sunderland, with the two parishes of 
 
 Wearmouth, giving 33,911; 
 
 while the following claims are quietly but en- 
 tirely unnoticed,* viz. 
 
 Bury, Parish 34,581 
 
 Rochdale, ditto 47,109 
 
 Oldham 5-2,510; 
 
 and the following are posted in the less distin- 
 
 * Since admitted, together with Stoke-upon-Trent; Wake- 
 field, (foryotten,) and Whitby.
 
 55 
 
 guished rank, for the allotment of but one 
 Member each : 
 
 Blackburn, Parish 53,350 
 
 Bradford, ditto 52,950 
 
 And I believe I might add the name of Devon- 
 port and its appendages, though this place can- 
 not be correctly ascertained from the Popula- 
 tion Abstracts, and was in fact ^hoWy forgotten 
 in the original construction of the Bill. If it 
 is possible to conceive that some political rea- 
 sons might be given for these appearances, such 
 as have been so often used in favour of the 
 three first names upon this list, — that they were 
 the centres of great departments of national 
 industry and enterprise, — the principle of such 
 reasons would be perfectly just; but even were 
 it applicable to such cases, we are forbidden by 
 all the structure and whole character of this 
 measure to admit it ; and we are bound to ad- 
 here to the established criterion of population, 
 by which its harsher parts have been confessedly 
 adjusted. The next Schedule contains those 
 places which are to be put as it were upon the 
 half-pay of the new Representative Establish- 
 ment: — and we find in it, among a diversity of 
 descriptions, which seem to affect a clumsy 
 imitation of the ancient anomalies in the for- 
 mer catalogues, a name which I shall take first, 
 
 i: 4
 
 5G 
 
 because it seenis to me the most remarkable, 
 the name of Gateshead ; — and of which I am 
 here entirely at a loss to account for the intru- 
 sion. For those who are unacquainted with the 
 localities of the place, I would ask attention to 
 the following authorities, Camden speaks thus : 
 " On theTynewe must take notice of Gateshead, 
 a kind of suburb to Newcastle, to which it was 
 annexed by Edward VI. " And again, '* This 
 place and Newcastle seem formerly to have 
 made one town, only divided by the river." In 
 Brand's History of Newcastle, we find the ac- 
 count of its annexation, and again its subse- 
 quent separation, and of the design to re-annex 
 it in 1646; and the additional fact, that the 
 Crown conferred the Manor of Gateshead on 
 certain Burgesses of Newcastle, who assigned it 
 to the Corporation ; and that they repeatedly 
 held their Head Courts there in consequence. 
 It is as a mere appendage to Newcastle, there- 
 fore, that its history instructs us to consider it; 
 do its actual circumstances warrant us in a 
 different estimate of its character? — It is sepa- 
 rated from Newcastle by the river Tyne alone, — 
 as Bedminster is separated from Bristol ; as 
 Weymouth from Melcombe Regis; and as Monk 
 Wearmouth is from Sunderland. Its interests 
 are identical, though subordinate, as the port to 
 a neighbourhood of coal mines ;■ — and yet while
 
 57 
 
 Aston, with Inhabitants 19,189 
 
 Is added to Birmingham, with 85,416 
 
 To make up 104,605 
 
 Woolwich, with 17,008 
 
 To Greenwich and Deptford, with .••• 41,530 
 
 Making 58,538 
 
 And, by a special provision, ^ 
 
 Portsea 38,379 
 
 To Portsmouth 7,269 
 
 Making 45,648 
 
 Chatham and Stroud 16,215 
 
 To Rochester • 24,063 
 
 Making 40,278 
 
 And Sculcoates 10,449 
 
 To Hull 28,591 
 
 Making 39,040 
 
 Gateshead, with but 11 ,767 
 
 Which, if joined to Newcastle 35,181 
 
 Would make no larger sum than . • 46,948 
 
 and being smaller in the amount of its census 
 than any one other town in the Schedule for
 
 58 
 
 which it was selected,* is raised to the dignity 
 of an independent Borough, and is to speak 
 its separate will in Parliament, through its 
 own appropriate Representative. 
 
 But we cannot yet dismiss it ; for it is also 
 worth while to give one moment to look at 
 the omissions. There are, as far as they can 
 be made out from the vagueness of some of 
 the definitions of *' Town," &c. in the two Sche- 
 dules, eleven places taken as ** the Parish," 
 of which a large proportion are in the North 
 of England, Now we shall understand this 
 subject better, if we just refer to what is said 
 upon it in the preliminary observations, pre- 
 fixed to the Population Abstracts. We are 
 there informed, that, " on the introduction of 
 the * Poor Laws,' the inconvenience which 
 was felt in the northern counties from this 
 cause, (the size of the parishes,) will be easily 
 explained, by stating, that thirty or forty 
 square miles is there no unusual area of a 
 parish ; and (generally speaking) parishes, in 
 the North, average seven or eight times the 
 area of those in the southern counties. Hence, 
 in the thirteenth year of Charles II. (soon 
 
 * Except Kendal, and Kidderminster; which, according 
 to a later return, appear to be taken as the " Towns" re- 
 spectively, at 8,984, and 10,709. However, they are at 
 least independent places.
 
 59 
 
 after his restoration) a law was passed, per- 
 mitting townships and villages, though not 
 entire parishes, severally, and distinctly, to 
 maintain their own poor; assigning, as a reason 
 for this innovation, ' That the inhabitants of 
 Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, 
 Northumberland, the Bishoprick of Durham, 
 Cumberland, and Westmoreland, and many 
 other counties of England and Wales, by 
 reason of the largeness of the parishes within 
 the same, have not, and cannot reap the be- 
 nefit of the Act of Parliament (43d of Elizabeth) 
 for the relief of the poor.' Under this law, 
 the Townships of the North have become as 
 distinctly limited in practice as if they were 
 separate parishes; and, of course, make se- 
 parate returns." 
 
 Nevertheless, in these Schedules, we find 
 the parish of Halifax, of which we have al- 
 ready spoken ; Blackburn, with an area of 
 about twelve and a half miles in length, 
 with twenty- three subdivisions; Huddersfield, 
 of above seven or eight, comprising seven ; and 
 Bradford, of twelve or fourteen, by about 
 eight, with thirteen townships and chapelries; 
 besides several others, which it would be te- 
 dious to detail. There are, moreover, towns, 
 such as Whitehaven and Workington, at no
 
 60 
 
 less than eight miles distance; Greenwich, and 
 Deptford, and Woolwich ; Wolverhampton, 
 Bilston, and Sedgeley ; united to form the 
 required numbers, with separate parishes; 
 and then we find Gateshead, with only 11,767 
 souls, inserted in a list of eighteen names ; 
 whereof, according to our means of enquiry, 
 there appear to be four standing below 12,000, 
 eleven below 20,000,and eighteen below 30,000 ;* 
 and I ask, whether the following places, 
 namely, 
 
 Whalley Parish 84,198 
 
 Bury ditto 34,581 
 
 Rochdale ditto 47,109 
 
 Oldliam ditto 52,510 
 
 Ashton-under-Liue ditto • 25,967 
 
 Stourbridge and Old Swinford, con- 
 tiguous Parishes 11,227 
 
 Stroud, Bisley, and Minchiug-Hamp- 
 ton, within a mile or two of dis- 
 tance 20,361 
 
 Bradford, (Wilts,) and Trowbridge, the 
 
 same 19,776 
 
 Whitby Parish 12,331 
 
 Keighley and Bingley, in Yorkshire, 
 
 within two or three miles 16,598 
 
 Ormskirk Parish 12,422 
 
 Kirkham, Lancashire 11,925 
 
 * These numbers are corrected by the latest return ; 
 where, by the bye, Warrington again h forgotten.
 
 61 
 
 Almondbury, Yorkshire, Parish 23,979 
 
 And Redruth, in Cornwall, with its 
 
 own, and the four small adjacent 
 
 parishes of Camborne, Gwennap, 
 
 Stithyans, and Illuggan , the centre 
 
 of a great mining population, and 
 
 important interests • 25,972 
 
 with Others, which might still prolong the 
 roll, have not, under this canon of population, 
 a ground for protest and remonstrance against 
 the partiality or negligence of the selection, 
 which it would be difficult satisfactorily to 
 answer. I will not dwell upon the ignorant 
 error of describing Stockport, as in Lancashire, 
 nor upon the absurdity of separating South 
 Shields from North Shields and Tynemouth, 
 like Gateshead from Newcastle, presenting, 
 together, not more than a population of 41,323; 
 
 while Blackburn, with 53,350; 
 
 and Bradford, with 52,954; 
 
 have allotted to them only one Member each. 
 
 I feel that I have drawn largely upon the 
 attention of my reader, and I will ask but 
 one more indulgence ; but I must beg of him, 
 before we close the subject of our enquiries, 
 to accompany me, for a few moments, into 
 the Principality of Wales. I promise, that I 
 am not about to bewilder him with a minute 
 analysis of that melodious vocabulary, which,
 
 62 
 
 in a separate Schedule, announces the new 
 arrangement of political interests in that quarter; 
 nor do I feel myself sufficiently qualified to 
 detain him upon the most obvious claims and 
 merits of Pwllheli and Kenfig; but I cannot 
 wholly omit to notice it, because it affords 
 another curious and instructive illustration of 
 the impartial and consistent adherence to great 
 principles; which has, as we have seen, so 
 eminently marked every step in the course 
 of these magnificent Reformers. It will be 
 recollected, that many of those persons, who, 
 persuaded that some considerable change in 
 the distribution of the elective franchise was 
 required, are yet anxious, that, in accom- 
 plishing this end, as little as possible of vio- 
 lation of existing privileges, and subversion 
 of ancient rights, should be committed, as 
 is compatible with its effectual attainment, 
 have proposed, that, in lieu of an unmitigated 
 disfranchisement, the amount of representation, 
 possessed by the smaller Boroughs, should be 
 retrenched, and themselves classed in united 
 districts, in order to enlarge the objects of 
 that representation, without, at the same time, 
 abolishing its character. 
 
 But no ; nothing could prevail with these gen- 
 tlemen, as they tell us, to consent to such an 
 inefficient and inconvenient scheme. For rea-
 
 63 
 
 sons, some of which must be presumed to be 
 conclusive, although they have not been ex- 
 plained, they reject with disdain any such pro- 
 posal : but they no sooner find themselves 
 within the Principality, than they submit 
 silently to re-arrange a system of this identical 
 form, and the following is the result : — That 
 they establish twelve districts of contributory 
 Boroughs, composed each of, from two to six dis- 
 tinct places — whereof, three even of the " Shire 
 Towns, or principal Boroughs," namely, Flint, 
 Montgomery, and Radnor, and no fewer than 
 twenty-three of their dependent associates, are 
 below, (some of them far below,) the lowest of 
 the previous lines of population ; and therefore 
 devoted, according to all the laws of their own 
 distributive justice, whether dispensed in Eng- 
 land, or in Scotland, to unconditional extinc- 
 tion . 
 
 I have now done. I leave it to those who 
 have abler heads, and more practised pens, — and 
 some of whom have already so well applied 
 their power, — to impress upon the country the 
 more general effects and tendencies of this pre- 
 sumptuous proposal. My object has been dif- 
 ferent ; and I shall be satisfied, if I have con- 
 tributed in any measure, however subordinate, 
 to expose its character. Let it be remembered, 
 that the preceding observations are but those of
 
 64 
 
 an individual, whose means of information 
 were, to say the least of it, not greater than 
 those possessed by all who were engaged in its 
 preparation, and of which it was their bounden 
 duty to have made all practicable use. What 
 more might in the same manner have been ac- 
 complished with further time, and with ampler 
 materials, I will not undertake to say ; but I have 
 had reason to believe, in the progress of my in- 
 vestigation, that I have left much untold. I 
 know not whether I shall succeed in convey- 
 ing to the minds of others those sentiments 
 which prevail within my own, when 1 contem- 
 plate the attempt to beguile the country into 
 the most momentous and most perilous change, 
 that ever in its whole history it has approached, 
 with less reflection, and less care than is be- 
 stowed upon its most ordinary affairs, through 
 the preposterous absurdities of this unparalleled 
 specimen of blindfold legislation. But I have, 
 at least, made the endeavour. I am prepared for 
 the only argument, which I have heard in reply 
 to such facts and remarks as these, and of 
 which, the frequent use is much in fashion with 
 the abettors of the measure — that the country 
 has declared itself, with one unanimous accla- 
 mation, and that it is in vain to reason against 
 its undivided will. I can meet the argument, 
 because I shall venture to dispute the facts.
 
 65 
 
 Even the force which did belong to it, begins to 
 fail them. There has been much clamour, it is 
 true ; there may liave been some conversion ; 
 I know that there has been much of unreflecting 
 panic, much of inert submission; but far more 
 of excited ignorance, and of the universal 
 proneness, which, upon such occasions, never 
 fails to follow in the impetuous course of popu- 
 lar clamour. 
 
 But, if I protest against the efforts made 
 to identify this contemptible compound with the 
 essence of Reform, I will not pretend to doubt 
 that there has arisen, upon the principle of that 
 great problem, a sentiment throughout the na- 
 tion, and among classes to whom it was not long 
 since unknown, which leaves resistance power- 
 less. It is with a deep consciousness of this truth, 
 though with a no less steady conviction than 
 before, of the real fallacy and delusion of its 
 object, that I, among thousands else, am con- 
 tent now to profess myself a supporter of that 
 question ; not through blind compliance ; but 
 because I feel, that, be my own opinion what it 
 may, the very existence of that sentiment de- 
 stroys its first axiom, and that no mortal go- 
 vernment, however excellent its form, can re- 
 main so in its practice, if its instruments be the 
 object of distrust and discontent to the great 
 body of the governed. But in applying a re- 
 
 F
 
 G6 
 
 medy to the evil, which in its very nature never 
 can be final, and upon which experience can 
 shed but little light, I assert that the man who 
 goes one step beyond what is clearly necessary 
 to render it effectual, trifles criminally with the 
 most sacred interests of his country. Yet these 
 Reformers outstrip, not only all reasonable de- 
 sires, but the most extravagant expectations, to 
 execute a scheme, of which the boldest does 
 not venture to predict the consequences at two 
 years' distance. Again I adjure the country to 
 pause, and to interfere before it suffers itself to 
 be thus hurried into the fearful speculation. 
 I ask it to distrust it — to suspect it, — even from 
 the very manner in which it has been proposed. 
 It is the awfully irrevocable nature of the step 
 that, above all, is to be dreaded. Its very ad- 
 vocates confess it an experiment. Yet what an 
 experiment! One which, if it succeed, attains 
 but that which it might have equally secured by 
 more careful and safer methods, — but if it fail, 
 must leave us deluded indeed, but helpless; 
 and with no better consolation than a late and 
 unavailing repentance, for that headlong folly, 
 which in a moment of impatience sacrificed 
 institutions and their securities, that have, 
 through ages past at least, served all the highest 
 purposes of liberty and glory.
 
 67 
 
 Since the greater part of these pages was 
 penned, some of their subject matter, as will be 
 observed by the notes, has become no longer the 
 same. We seem to have been treading on a 
 kind of legislative quick-sands, of which no man 
 can rely from day to day upon the shifting 
 materials. Some additional documents have 
 been produced, and certain alterations are to be 
 made. The former, however, tend rather to 
 confirm those observations to which they apply; 
 the latter affect little the substance of the rea- 
 soning. I never doubted,— no one could ever 
 doubt, — that all such objections may be reme- 
 died by alteration. Abandonment and retrac- 
 tation seem now to mark the usual course of 
 legislation. How far they may be extended in 
 this instance, it is impossible to foresee. I can 
 only say, that if the nation is now satisfied by 
 such means, it is not the way in which England 
 was wont to watch the proceedings of her rulers. 
 It may be probably a type of the method in a 
 democratic parliament. If so, the nation is the 
 best judge how far it is likely to be the gainer. 
 
 I'illinji, I'rinter, Cliflseii.
 
 - -/y^^ 
 
 *^^^M 
 
 
 Wv-"t; 
 
 
 '^3'^