THE WESTMINSTER SCRUTINY.
The first business which engaged the attention of the house, was the state of the Westminster scrutiny, which had now continued for eight months, at a great expense, and only two parishes out of seven had been gone through. It was calculated that as one of the parishes scrutinized was a small one, it would take three years to scrutinise the whole. Under these circumstances, the electors petitioned the house on the subject, and the high-bailiff and his counsel were in consequence examined at the bar of the house, touching the practicability of proceeding with greater dispatch. The high-bailiff frankly confessed that it would not take less than two years to finish the scrutiny; and Mr. Welbore Ellis, now in opposition, moved that he should obey the writ, and make a return of the precept; that is, that he should declare those elected who stood highest on the poll. This was negatived by one hundred and seventy-four against one hundred and thirty-five; and another motion, of a similar tendency, moved by Colonel Fitzpatrick, at a subsequent date, was likewise rejected, though only by a majority of nine, the numbers being one hundred and forty-five against one hundred and thirty-six. This small majority was ominous, inasmuch as it indicated that there was a change in public opinion upon the subject; and encouraged by it, on the 3rd of March, Alderman Sawbridge brought forward the motion for the third time. Pitt, whose proceedings on this subject reflect no credit on his feelings, moved the question of adjournment upon this repeated motion, and had the mortification of being left in a minority of thirty-eight; the numbers being for the adjournment one hundred and twenty-four, and against it, one hundred and sixty-two. After this the main question was put and carried without a division; and on the next day Lord Hood and Mr. Fox were declared duly returned. Yet the house, while it condemned the scrutiny as inexpedient, still maintained its legality; for when, on the 9th of March, Mr. Francis moved a resolution for expunging that of the 8th of June preceding, by which it was authorised, he was left in a minority of one hundred and thirty-seven against one hundred and forty-two. It is said that Mr. Pitt engaged in this discreditable affair from the conviction, that, within a reasonable time, a decided majority of legal votes would be substantiated in favour of Sir Cecil Wray; but it would rather appear that it was from the enmity which he bore to his rival, Fox. This, indeed, is borne out by the debates on the subject, for the speeches of Pitt teem with bitter invective against his opponent; which, perhaps, may have been a leading cause in the change of sentiments that took place among the young premier’s friends. There is in the nature of man, enlightened by education, an utter abhorrence to the spirit of persecution; and it must be confessed that Pitt exhibited much of that spirit in this affair of the Westminster scrutiny. And that Fox was looked upon in the light of a martyr is evident from the words of Pitt himself. In one of his speeches, having accused his rival of filling his speech with everything that was personal, inflammatory, and invidious, he remarked:—“I am not surprised if he should pretend to be the butt of ministerial persecution; and if, by striving to excite the public compassion, he should seek to reinstate himself in that popularity which he once enjoyed, but which he so unhappily has forfeited. For it is the best and most ordinary resource of these political apostates to court, to offer themselves to persecution for the sake of the popular predilection and pity which usually fall upon persecuted men; it becomes worth their while to suffer, for a time, political martyrdom, for the sake of the canonization that awaits the suffering martyr; and I make no doubt the right honourable gentleman has so much penetration, and at the same time so much passive virtue about him, that he would be glad not only to seem a poor, injured, persecuted man, but he would gladly seek an opportunity of even really suffering a little persecution, if it be possible to find such an opportunity.” In this extract is at once seen the animus by which Pitt was actuated in this contest; and the light in which the house and the public were disposed to look upon the object of his unseeming vindictiveness. A generous conqueror never persecutes, or exults over a fallen enemy.
PITT’S REFORM BILL.
These petty and unworthy proceedings were followed by a subject more worthy the attention of the statesman. Pitt had twice failed in his attempts to reform the house of commons, but, notwithstanding, he still determined to persevere, having pledged himself “as a man and a minister,” to promote this great cause. He renewed the subject on the 18th of April, when he brought forward a plan of reform: the specific proposition of which was to transfer the right of election from thirty-six rotten boroughs to the counties and great unrepresented towns; giving a compensation in money to the owners and holders of the rotten boroughs so disfranchised; the bill also proposed to extend the right of voting in county elections to copyholders. It has been doubted whether Pitt, at this time, had any sincere desire for parliamentary reform, although he had pledged himself to exert his influence to the utmost for securing the measure. There does not seem, however, to be any good reason for this doubt; for it is a well-known fact that he brought it forward, if not in direct opposition to the wishes of the king, yet at least without his expressed approbation. Knowing the aversion which his majesty felt to disturb this part of the constitution, he laid the heads of his plan before his royal master, from whom he received this honest and candid reply;—“Mr. Pitt must recollect that though I have ever thought it unfortunate that he had early engaged in this measure, yet I have always said, that as he was clear of its propriety, he ought to lay his thoughts before the house; that out of personal regard to him, I would avoid giving an opinion to any one, on the opening of the door of parliamentary reform, except to him: therefore I am certain Mr. Pitt cannot suspect me of influencing any person on this occasion. If others choose, for base ends, to impute such a conduct to me, I must bear it, as former false suggestions.” Yet, notwithstanding the king was so cold upon the subject, Pitt brought it forward with great energy in the house. At the same time, his speech seemed to indicate that he was not sanguine of success, although he felt assured that the minds of men were more enlightened upon the subject than at any former period. He remarked:—“The number of gentlemen who are hostile to reform, are a phalanx which ought to give alarm to any individual upon rising to suggest such a measure. Those who, with a sort of superstitious awe, reverence the constitution so much as to be fearful of touching even its defects; have always reprobated every attempt to purify the representation. They acknowledge its inequality and corruption, but in their enthusaism for the grand fabric, they would not suffer a reformer, with unhallowed hands, to repair the injuries which it has suffered from time. Others, who, perceiving the deficiencies that have arisen from circumstances, are solicitous for their amendment, yet resist the attempt; under the argument that, when once we have presumed to touch the constitution in one point, the awe which had heretofore kept us back from the daring enterprise of innovation might abate, and there was no foreseeing to what alarming lengths we might progressively go under the mask of reformation.” In support of his bill, Pitt argued that the plan which he proposed was coincident with the spirit of those changes which had taken place in the exercise of the elective franchise from the earliest ages, and not in the least allied to the spirit of innovation; that so far back as the reign of Edward the First the franchise of election had been constantly fluctuating; that as one borough decayed and another flourished, the first was abolished and the second was invested with the right; that even the representation of counties had not been uniform; and that James the First in his proclamation for calling his first parliament, directed that the sheriffs should not call upon such boroughs as were ruined and decayed, to send members to parliament. But no arguments could prevail; and Pitt, having made no use of his ministerial influence to bring over converts to his scheme, was doomed to suffer a signal defeat; the bill was thrown out by two hundred and forty-eight against one hundred and seventy-four; and the premier never ventured to bring the subject before the house again. Nay, in a few years he even became a determined opponent of all change or amendment in the representation. It is from this cause, chiefly, that he is suspected of insincerity at this period: but his bosom friend, Wilberforce, at least deemed him sincere upon the subject, for he writes with reference to it in his diary, that Pitt had a “noble patriotic heart;” a sentiment to which a previous private conversation gave rise. It is in the closet, when man unbosoms himself to a friend, that his real intentions are best discovered. No conclusion can, indeed, be drawn upon the matter of Pitt’s sincerity from his subsequent opposition to parliamentary reform, for many causes may have operated upon his mind to lead him to change his line of conduct. He may have opposed it out of deference to his majesty, or he may, after some years’ experience, have seen that the machine, as then constituted, worked better under his auspices than he had anticipated. Man is a creature of change: to-morrow he may hold opinions from conviction, the very reverse of those which he holds to-day.
PITT’S FINANCIAL MEASURES.
Early in this session, Pitt brought in three several bills for the better auditing and examining the public accounts, and for the regulation and reform of the public offices, all which bills passed with great applause; though not without some stern opposition. In connexion with this subject he mentioned, that, from an inquiry which had been instituted into the accounts of different persons from whom the sum of £40,000,000 was due to the exchequer, £257,000 was ready to be paid: he also mentioned that further sums would be recovered still, as the examination of accounts proceeded. On the 11th of April, Pitt likewise made a communication which was at once satisfactory to the house, and creditable to his financial abilities. In moving for an account of the net produce of the taxes in the quarters ending January 5th and April 5th, for the two last years, he said, that the bills passed last session for the prevention of smuggling, and the regulations adopted for the collection and management of the different branches of revenue, had worked so well that, together with the extension of trade and commerce, they had already produced such an increase in the produce of the taxes as to justify a hope that the income of the country, would, in the next year, not only equal the expenditure, but afford a surplus, which might be applied to the gradual liquidation of the debt. Yet with such a prospect Pitt found himself compelled to call for more taxes from the house. He opened the budget on the 9th of May, and in doing so he said that the supplies which had been voted amounted to £9,737,868; and that the ways and means fell short of that sum by about £1,000,000, which deficiency must be made good by new taxes. Accordingly, several new taxes were proposed; among which was a tax upon female servants, calculated to produce £140,000, and an additional tax upon servants, calculated to produce, in addition to the former one, about £35,000. Pitt also proposed a tax on retail shops, calculated at £120,000 per annum; a tax which proved particularly obnoxious, as was also that on servants. Most of the taxes which Pitt proposed, indeed, encountered much opposition; but the bills enacting them were carried after several divisions, with, however, some modifications, in order to obviate some of the principal objections. The modifications introduced were likely to render them less productive than Pitt originally expected; and to supply this deficiency, taxes on attorneys and on warrants were imposed; the game duty was increased, and coach-makers were obliged to take out a license. One great cause which led to these new imposts proceeded from the remaining part of the floating arrear of debt, consisting of navy bills and ordnance debentures, at five per cent, stock, the interest of which amounted to about £400,000 per annum. Pitt was led to the adoption of this measure because it was found that these bills and debentures had a great effect in depressing the public securities.