pate the conte conf A ther is m of a muc debl the ener fiths ed The the I the at like A b a in v T mar ed Wa Cor Que and Baf Nor &c.. as 1 The but Mil chu net' St.1 Hol whi this bui fre 1759. 9 The Hiftory of the laft Seffion of Parliament, &c. The Hiftory of the Seffion of Parliament, which began Nov. 24, 1767, being the feventh Seffion of the Twelfth Parliament of Great-Britain; with an Account of all the material Questions therein determined, and of the political Difputes thereby occafioned withcut Doors. Continued from onr lafi vol. p. of and means This corporation, it seems, was in THE committee of ways aefolutions debted in a confiderable fum of money which were mentioned in the laft continuation of the parliamentary history -Mr. Paterfon, the Lord North, Mr. Onflow, Mr. Jenkinson, Mr. Pryfe Campbell, Mr. Attorney General, Mr. Cowper, and Mr. Bradshaw, were ordered to prepare and bring in a bill for carrying these refolutions immediately into an act: They were at the fame time inftructed to make a provision for the better fecurity of the excife laws upon foreign liquors imported; to provide for repealing the prohibition on the fale of condemned tea for home confumption, which had been enacted in the preceding feffion; and to provide alfo for the amendment of other acts which related to the depofiting contraband wrought filks, velvets, cambricks, and French lawns in the custom houfe warehouses. The fame day, February 23, the houfe took into confideration the petition of William Le Merchant, Efq; agent for the island of Guernsey, ftating the hardships which the inhabitants of that place laboured under by an act paffed in the fourth year of his prefent majefty, discontinuing the allowance of 121. per cent. for leakage upon wines, theretofore imported in to this kingdom, (Madeira from the British colonies or from the East Indies only excepted) unless fuch wines were directly imported from the places of their refpective growth, or from the ufual port of their being firft fhipped; and refolved, that fo much of the abovementioned act, as far as either Guernsey or Jerfey was affected, fhould be repealed. One of the most remarkable occurrences how ever of the leffion, which we are now recording, was the affair that related to a fum of money, which a western corporation demanded of Sir Thomas Stapleton and the Hon. Mr. Robert Lee, who reprefented it, for their reelection in the enfuingaw parliament. Jan. 1769. expended for its own public purposes, the intereft of which made a very difagreeable diminution in its revenues, which were no way in a condition to pay the principal of.-Thus fituated; feveral of the magistrates wrote a joint letter to their members, acquainting them with the ftate of their affairs; and offering to rechoose them at the approaching general election, provided thev advanced fuch a fum as would be fufficient to extricate the city from its difficulties. It is generally affirmed, and as generally believed, that the gentlemen who figned this letter to Sir Thomas Stapleton and Mr. Lee were wholly unactuated by any motives of felf intereft, and that they only meant to benefit the corporation in general by their requeftbe this as it may, their letter was certainly imprudent to the laft degree, if it merits no barfher an appellation.---Their members were either worthy of confidence, or they were not; and they either deferved to be rechofen on account of their integrity, or to be discarded if they bore a contrary character. In either cafe the letter writers were wholly without excufe. For in the first place, if the conduct of their reprefentatives was praife worthy, they conferred a real obligation on the constituents, and fhould have been diftinguished with honours; inftead of being loaded with impofitions. On the other hand, if their behaviour in parliament was fuch as gave the electors a jutt cause to be diffatisfied, they were utterly improper for future confidence, and no thinking well wither to the happiness of his country would, on any confideration, favour them with his voice. But unfortunately for the people of Great-Britain, though they have the love of their country very much in their mouths, they leldom have had it, of late years at least, very much in their hearts.The body of the na B tioni 10 The HISTORY of the laft Seffion of Parliament. tion expect a juft, a faithful discharge of the parliamentary duties from the reprefentative, and they expect that he mult pay them into the bargain. They think their delegate in the auguft council of the kingdom muft devote his whole time and attention to the advancement of their welfare, and instead of rewarding him for his labours, they imagine he ought to reward them for the honour of being employed in their fervice.-By this means they keep men of real probity out of the fenate, or reduce their members frequently to the difagreeable neceffity of facrificing the public welfare to the views of an arbitrary minister a man of true principle, if he has any prudence, will not give a large fum of money for an opportunity of conferring benefits.--He will fenfibly confider that thofe are unworthy of his regard, who must be bribed into the fupport of their own happiness, and who, instead of thanking the hand which generously toils for their profperity, ungratefully wishes to plunge it into distress.---The confequence therefore is, that we are often represented by men who make a traffic of their feats, and who go into the house on purpose to fell us at an advantageous price to a miniftry; or by men whofe fortunes we have fo diftreffed by our fcandalous demands, that unable to refift the fhock of poverty, they readily fwallow the earliest baits of government, and in the fame manner that they have beggar'd their families to promote the emolument of their country, they beggar their country to re-establish the opulence of their families. In fact, univerfally as we exclaim against any occafional perfidy in our reprefentatives, the fault should be entirely attributed to ourfelves--if we were honeft in our choice, the reprefentative would be honest in his conduct---but if we bafely proftitute our principles and require a price from the man we elect, he furely has a right to difpofe of his commodity...If he buys, it is natural he bould fell us, and it is a prefumption in any body to murmur at the proceeding---we have fet him the example---we have fhewn him that we are wholly regardless of the public profperity--and we have no thing but the contempt of the world Jan. to expect, if he should facrifice us at the altar of the fame avarice, where we have facrificed our duty as citizens, and our probity as men-but to return. The house on the 26th of January being informed of the letter, addreffed to Sir Thomas Stapleton and Mr. Lee, was very justly filled with indignation, and a bill was immediately ordered to be prepared, by Mr. Alderman Beckford, Mr. Cooke, Mr. Cornwall, Mr. Blackstone, Mr. Onflow, Mr. Wilbraham, Colonel Onflow, Mr. Wilbraham Bootle, Mr. Nicholfon Calvert, Mr. Cholmondeley, Lord Brownlow Bertie, Mr. Goddard, Mr. Gilbert, Sir William B. Proctor Mr. Prefcott, Mr. Bouverie, Mr. Shiffner, Mr. Darker, and Mr. Barrow, for the more effectual prevention of bribery and corruption---Sir Tho mas Stapleton and Mr. Lee were at the fame time ordered to attend in their places on the firft of February following, which they accordingly did, and acknowledged the receipt of the letter. In confequence of which the magiftrates who figned it were commanded to appear before the houfe on Friday the fifth, when they were all committed to Newgate, and thawks were unanimously returned to Sir Thomas and Mr. Lee for their very honoura ble conduct in this memorable tranfaction. On the 9th of February the magiftrates petitioned the house, expreffing a fincere contrition for their behaviour, and begging to be released from their confinement. In confequence of this petition they were ordered to be brought the next day to the bar of the houfe, and on their knees received a reprimand from the fpeaker, who after addreting each feverally by name, ob. ferved that the offence of which they had been guilty, had juftly brought them under the fevere difpleature of the houfe; and that they could not well commit a more enormous crime, fice the conftitution itfelf could not receive a deeper wound, than by the open and dangerous attempt which they had made to fubvert the freedom and independence of parliament. The freedom of the houfe of commons, Mr. Speaker very properly remarked, was the freedom of the country, which could continue no longer than while the voices of the electors were 1769. The HISTORY of the laft Seffion of Parliament. were uninfluenced by any bafe or ve= nal motive; for if abilities and integrity were of no recommendation to the electors; if those who bid highest for voices were to obtain them from fuch deteftable confiderations; the Houfe of Commons would not be the reprefentatives of the people of Great Britain. Instead of being the guardians and protectors of their liberties, inftead of redreifing the grievances of the fubject, the house itfelf would be the author of the worst grievances: And would become the venal inftruments of power to reduce this happy nation, the envy and admiration of the world, to the lowest ftate of mifery and fervitude. Many circumstances, Mr. Speaker obferved, concurred to aggravate the offence of the prifoners--The place of their refidence was a fingular advantage-They had at all times the example of one of the most refpectable bodies in Europe before their eyes, whofe conduct in every inftance, but efpecially in the choice of reprefentatives was highly worthy of imitation-The offenders alío, the speaker took notice, were magiftrates of a great city; in such a situation it was a duty incumbent upon them, to watch over the morals of their fellow citizens; to keep themselves pure from venality, and to prevent thofe under their government from being tainted with that growing and peftilential vice... This truft, he added, they had abused, by fetting an infamous example of proftitution in the most public and daring manner. Mr. Speaker proceeded to obferve, that they must furely have felt fome remorfe for the generous difdain with which their corrupt offer was rejected by their representatives.---Thele gentlemen thought, he faid, and justly thought, that a feat in the House of Commons, obtained by the free and independent choice of their conftituents, was the highest honour to which a fubject could afpire, and that difcharging their duty as fuch reprefentatives was the nobleft of fervices.--Sorry was he, declared Mr. Speaker, that these confiderations did not appear to have had the least weight with the perfons he was reprimanding However, as they had at last acknowledged their guilt, and feemed con fcious by their petition of the enormous offence they had committed, the houfe, in the terror of its judgments, always thought upon mercy; nor did it ever inflict punishment but for the fake of example, and to prevent others from becoming the objects of its refentment---The cenfure paffed upon them Mr. Speaker hoped would have a proper affect--- he wished that they might be penetrated with the juftice and lenity of the houfe, and atone for their past offence by a conftant endeavour to make a right use of the invaluable privilege which they enjoyed as electors; he then added a delire that they would confider these privileges as a facred truft repofed in them, and concluded with faying, that before they rofe from their knees he reprimanded them in the name of the houfe, and that they were then difcharged upon the payment of their fees. Tho' this was the most capital, it was not the only circumstance of corruption which engaged the attention of the houfe during the feffion of which we are here fpeaking; the venality of the times was fo daring, that even feats in parliament were publicly advertifed for, through the channels of our news papers; but proceedings of fo flagrant a nature could by no means país unnoticed; the houfe therefore made a ftrict inquiry into thefe tranfactions, and ordered the perfons principally culpable to Newgate, where they remained till they had by their petitions exprefled the deepest contrition for their offences, given a folemn pro mife of future good behaviour, and received the Speaker's reprimand in the name of the anguit allembly whole difpleafure they had incurred, in the fame humiliating manner as the corporation of O---.d. It is much to the honour of parliament that we have at prefent feveral fevere !tatutes again bribery and corruption, and that our laws are very explicit in regard to the qualification of members---But it is at the fame time highly to be lamented, that there falutary regulations are fo frequently eluded, and that men who either have no attachment whatever to the public good, or no property whatever to benefit by promoting it, ftit find methods to defeat the wildom of the legiВ 2 flative |