The Parliamentary Debates from the Year 1803 to the Present Time Volume 41 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1820 Excerpt: ...The hon. gentleman's intention seemed to be, that an inhabitant or householder attending a meeting of freeholders, would become guilty of a misdemeanor, and be liable to to two years imprisonment. Mr. Honywood wished to ask whether the clause was intended to apply to the county which he represented. The election took place always in the public road, so that no traveller could help mingling with such an assembly, and rendering himself by consequence liable to the penalties of the bill. He needed not observe, that this would be a most flagrant violation of the constitution. Lord Castlereagh apprehended that it would be necessary to protect meetings against improper intruders by a police much stricter than had hitherto been employed for that purpose. Sir C. Monck hoped the hon. gentle-' men on the bench below him would not forget to remind the noble lord, at a future stage of the bill, of the proposed admission of copyholders, as well as freeholders, to these meetings. Mr. Graham, member for Hull, wished to suggest the case of a meeting called for the purpose of putting in nomination a new member to represent a town or county in parliament, a parliament having been just dissolved. In such a case, would the old member have a right to attend his constituents, to render an account of his past conduct in their service? His reason for asking the noble lord this question was, that he happened to represent a town of which he was neither a freeman nor a householder. There might be other honourable gentlemen similarly circumstanced with himself. He was not, however, anxious about the fate of any one clause in particular of this bill, for he objected to its principle altogether. Lord Castlereagh had supposed that meetings for the election of burgesses could not be imagi...