Nov 18 1831 Cumberland County Meeting #2 - Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions

Nov 18 1831 Cumberland County Meeting #2

The Times, Friday, Nov 18, 1831; pg. 1; Issue 14699; col C

                          CUMBERLAND COUNTY MEETING.
                                           ---------------------
                                               (From the Sun.)     [continued]

Sir WILFRED LAWSON, Bart., then stood forward. He said that when they were last
assembled, it was for the purpose of expressing their decided approbation of
that measure of reform which they then agreed was the only remedy for those
intolerable and universally admitted evils under which the country laboured, and
at that time he was induced to expect that when they met again it would have
been for the purpose of proclaiming their satisfaction at that measure having
become the law of the land. In common with them all, he deeply partook of that
little disappointment which resulted from the unceremonious rejection of the
bill of reform by the House of Lords; but, perhaps, there was some excuse for
our hereditary legislators, for he believed their rashness was the result of
their ignorance - their total ignorance of the opinions of the people. He said
this, because during all the discussions on the bill, their Lordships had
universally declared their great regard for the petitions of the people, and
that they were only anxious that the public should have time to consider
maturely the nature of the measure they were seeking. He (Sir Wilfred)
therefore, felt an assurance, that after the period had elapsed which their
Lordships had kindly procured us for reflection, and when the measure should
return to them stamped by the approbation of an united people, or at least by a
vast majority of all classes, he could not bring himself to imagine that they
would again venture upon its rejection, and plunge the country into a state of
anarchy and confusion; but on the contrary, that they would pass it, and
reinstate the people in their just rights, and restore the kingdom to peace and
order. In the course of the debates upon the bill, the events of the French
revolution had been frequently alluded to, in illustration of what might be
expected to flow from granting this measure; but he (Sir Wilfred) thought that
those events might more properly have been quoted to show the danger of too long
delaying just concessions (cheers); for had the just endeavours of the French
King and his Ministers been exerted before the breaking out of the revolution,
the deplorable scenes of that period would never have taken place. He should
conclude these observations by moving an address of thanks to our excellent King
for his noble conduct, which address was also expressive of confidence in His
Majesty's advisers.

                    "TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.
"May it please your Majesty, - We, your loyal and dutiful subjects, the clergy,
gentry, and freeholders of the county of Cumberland, in county meeting
assembled, beg leave to approach your Majesty with the assurance of our
attachment to your Royal person, and of our unabated anxiety for such a measure
of reform in Parliament as that which received the sanction of the House of
Commons.

"We deplore the rejection of that measure by the House of Lords, as calculated
deeply to disappoint the just and reasonable hopes of the nation.

"We are, however, consoled by the assurance from the throne, of your Majesty's
unaltered desire to promote the settlement of this important question, and
relying upon the sincerity and firmness of your present Ministers, we
respectfully entreat your Majesty to retain them in your councils and favour,
and to enable them by all constitutional means to fulfil your Majesty's gracious
desire, and to secure to your faithful people the just enjoyment of their
representative rights. And your petitioners will ever pray."

HENRY HOWARD, Esq., of Corby Castle, had great pleasure in seconding an address
of thanks to the King, who had proved himself the most patriotic Monarch - the
most free from selfishness - of any ruler of these realms since the days of
Alfred. (Cheers.) He knew he could not add to their information on the subject
of reform, nor could he impress them, he was sure, with a more sincere
conviction of the necessity of the measure than they all felt. If there was one
characteristic more remarkable in the English character than another, it was a
tenaciousness of their resolves, although on that question they were taxed with
fickleness and with lukewarmness; but the real difficulty was in restraining
many from showing themselves red-hot in the cause, - hissing hot, (laughter),
and sorry was he that the people had, in some places, shown themselves blazing
hot, for the greatest enemy of reform was the disturber of the public peace.
(Loud cheers.) Reform was merely the restoration of due order in the machinery
of the State. He was sorry that the Peers should have acted as they had done,
for he viewed them as an integral part of our constitution, and highly valuable
in many respects. He regretted that they should have thought it within their
province to interfere with a measure that solely affected the rights of the
people, and with which, in his opinion, they had no more real right to meddle
than with a money bill. (Applause.) The Peers had had nothing to do with the
formation of the House of Commons, they ought to have had nothing to do with its
re-organization. (Loud cheers.) It would have been more desirable had they
turned their attention to the rectification of abuses in the institutions of
their own order. Was there nothing faulty in the system of voting by proxy?
(Cheers.) Would it not be just to set aside a system which enabled a Peer to
vote on a question in this country, when he himself was resident in the East
Indies? A relative of his (Mr. HOWARD's) had actually voted after he was dead.
(Loud laughter.) He was Governor of Jamaica, and his proxy had been tendered and
received after his decease. (Cries of "Shame," and "What became of the
Archbishop of York's proxy?") With regard to increasing the number of Peers, it
perhaps was of little importance to the people whether they were few or many;
but he was desirous, for the sake of their respectability, that they should
undergo as little increase as possible. This was a point of great difficulty,
and were they increased, it would be best to add to their number from the sons
of Peers. Since the accession of George III. there had been 356 advanced or
created Peers, of which only 36 had been made by Whig or liberal
administrations. Previous to that period the number was 181. Some of those Peers
had been created on account of their legal eminence; others for their naval or
military services, which was perhaps all well enough; but a great number had
been created in consequence of their connexion with the borough system.
(Cheers.) To the influence of that system could be traced the American war and
the great French war. It was the boroughmongers who persevered in the American
war, and prevented the people of this country from having a moderate climate to
fly to, where they would have found their brethren. That war impoverished this
country, and rendered us unable to prevent Russia and the other corrupt Powers
dividing Poland in the way they did. It was to the borough system that we could
trace all the great evils of this country. Should a fresh creation of Peers take
place, it would be to shiver a lance with this boroughmongering ogre, and slay
the foul dragon of Wantley. The institution of the boroughs was originally good,
the members were returned by the Sheriff, and the Sheriff was elected by all the
inhabitants who rented houses (cheers), but in the end money and influence had
destroyed their usefulness, and they had become merely the instruments of the
rich. Since the reign of Henry VIII. these borough-members had been increased
173, rendering the county members as only 1 to 5½, instead as 1 to 3 as
formerly. The influence of those boroughs had given us our present 800,000,000L.
of debt, and an immense load of taxation; and given crowns and riches to their
possessors. By the adoption of the Bill of Reform, a better state of things
would ensue, and though we could not do otherise than look with regret to the
past, we might view the future with confidence and hope.

The HIGH SHERIFF then put the address to the meeting, which was carried
unanimously, amidst great cheering.