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MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS; OR, The Christian s Survey of the Political florid.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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An eventful month has passed over our heads . Whether we : look to events abroad , or to deliberations at home , the Christian must be shocked at the difference between things as they now are , sud as tliey will be , when men shail
acknowledge the power , and practise the rules of the gospel . Extraordinary deliberations have talc-en place in the senate It is no longer-a surmi .-e , but an acknowledged fact , that the representation of the Commons is not 'what it ought to be ; that most scandalous transactions take place in it ; and in these transactions his majcsty * s ministers are accused of being ; parties- This has been often said . It was not doubted without doors , but the utroclous crime had never been
unblushmgly owned before in the House of Commons . It is curious to perceive in what manner a worldly mind will gloss over the wickedest transactions , and with what difficulty an evil once established can be subdued . There cannot be a
doubt that accoxding to the principles of our constitution , the man who barters his vote for money is guilty of a great crime ; and for this plain reason , that bad men may thus be entrusted with the power of legislation , and enter the House of Commons for s nister purposes . But how much greater Is the crime , if the the minister of the crown tnteis into the
traiBc—introduces men into the House decidedly to support hU measures , and thus poisons deliberation ar hi- -ource . Whether the Hop . sc o Commons i 6 An advantage or disadvantage to the country , curious men may speculate , but
it must be allowed by all , that to be of advantage it must answer the purpose for which it was designed ; namely , to give the people its 4 ue share of the legislation , and to be a due check on the actions of the executive government . When it loses this character , the
advantages of a mixed government are lost , and it would be better for despotism to appear in its pure form , than that the forms of liberty should be preserved when it « essence is lost . This truth serins to have been generally felt , and the facts that have conic out called for
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speedy Inquiry , and a proper remedy . The sale of seats in Parliament is so obvious and so gross an abuse , that ncjthinocould be said openly by any party in its defence . It wa > sufficient to mention it for cave to bring- in a bill to prevent it , and to make the penalties high for every tran .-gresaioij . Debates were very
frequent , and much was found to be said on this subject— so much so that the original , mover of the bill scarcely knew it agam , after it ^ passage through the House . Penalties were fixed upon , and oaths enjoined , by which the future tr ;
ifnck will be rendered very difficult , but still it remains a doubt , whether the subject will be a gainer , and whether the mart may not be transferred to a quarter which will render the traffic far more detrimental to the public thaa
ever . But it might be asked , since this traffic is by no one denied to be improper why "were not steps taken to render the bargain and sale for a seat in parliamei . r impossible ? That seats are sold as stalls
in a market can no longer be doubted : the reason is , that by the tenure of certain seats they may be so in possession c \ certain individuals , that they may be considered as private property . Thb arises from the number of voters being
very small , or from the votes being attached to dead property , tp which an individual may at vviil assign a living voter . The cause of the evil being known , the remedy one might think would not be difficult ; and as the House of Common ? is intended to represent the commons of the 4 and , there can be no propriety In members being . sentfrom aplaccin whicn no commoners reside But to correct
the innovations which time ha , s produced lr now considered to bean innovation-Nothing is to be altered in the present mode of representation : this part is not to be investigated , and of course the evik
attending the present state of the representation' vriil in a great measure remain * As long as private individuals arein possession of seats of parliament , it is to be expected that they will turn their possessions to their own private emolument
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Monthly Retrospect Of Public Affairs; Or, The Christian S Survey Of The Political Florid.
MONTHLY RETROSPECT OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS ; OR , The Christian s Survey of the Political florid .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1809, page 346, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1737/page/44/
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