DEBATES ON PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.
Encouraged by the fate of Criclade, and by petitions for parliamentary reform from the Livery of London, and the still existing county associations, on the 7th of May, Mr. William Pitt moved for a committee to inquire into the state of the representation in parliament, and to report their observations thereon to the house. The petitions which had been presented prayed for the abolition of the Septennial Act. Pitt did not adopt this prayer, but demanded the sweeping away of all rotten boroughs, and the establishment of an equal representation. His motion was seconded by Alderman Sawbridge, and was warmly supported by Sir George Saville, Mr. Fox, and other Whig orators. It was opposed by Thomas Pitt, who declared rotten boroughs to be an essential working part of the constitution—a sentiment suggested by his being proprietor of the borough of Old Sarum. Mr. Powys also could not see any utility in the revisal of a system which had stood the test of ages; and Mr. Dundas thought that the inquiry promised no benefit, that it would lead to evil, and that it would be wiser to submit to certain irregularities in an established form of government, than by attempting the correction to hazard the safety of the whole fabric. The debate manifested that the Whig aristocracy, now in power, were as anxious to quash this inquiry as the Tories themselves could have been; and it is remarkable, that Burke, Townshend, and others were also adverse to the motion. On a division, however, the motion was rejected by a majority of twenty only; the numbers being one hundred and sixty-one against one hundred and forty-one.