The spirit and integrity of the " Reformed " House
of Commons will be tested on Monday, by the motion of Mr. PvrEit to address the King to remove the Earl of WARWICK from the Lord-Lieutenancy of Warwickshire. The common law and statutes of the realm ordain that " elections shall be free ;" and constant periodical resolutions of the House of Commons, for two hundred years, record the great con- stitutional doctrine, that it is a gross violation of the liberties and privi- leges of the Commons for any Lord-Lieutenant or Prelate or Peer of Parliament to interfere in or attempt to influence the election of Re presentatives of the People. The facts connected with the last election for the borough of War- wick are notorious ; and the Reports and Evidence of the two Com- mittees of Inquiry indisputably prove, that the landed property and money of the Earl of WARWICK were the means of the corruption and intimidation of the electors of that town. For upwards of twelve months preceding the dissolution of the last Parliament, the steward and agents of the Earl of Wartmex falsely or " colourably " rated his tenants and dependants for various portions of his local property, for the palpable and proven purpose of giving them fictitious electoral quali- fications. The same agents defended these rates at the registration in October 183:2. The bankers of Lord WARWICK proved that his stew- ard transferred, in various sums, upwards of 30001. from his Lordship's account to that of his solicitor, Mr. TruarrTs, the town-clerk, for the expenses of the coining contest. It was distinctly proved that the per- sons recently convicted at Warwick Assizes of bribery, received checks from Mr. TIBUITTS on the same bank account ; that all the treat- ing expenses yet paid were defrayed from the same ignoble fund; and the Committee specifically reported this agency and peen- niary interference of Lord WARWICK in the election. It now re- mains to be seen whether the Reformed House of Commons has any respect for its own resolutions, and will maintain the authority it delegated to tbe patriotic Committee which so industriously and boldly exposed-this infamous corruption The Reform Act was designed to extirpate nomination boroughs. If Lord Wanwieg, the chief offender, is allowed to escape his share of punishment, and qper the Reform Act thus to violate the freedom and purity of election, the people will say that the Reformed House of Commons has re-created nomination boroughs, and authorized Peers and Lord-Lieutenants of counties to practice boroughmongering with impunity. We shall next week record the votes of Members present at the motion ; and the absentees will have to account to their constituents.
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