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free burgesses, voters, and electors of the borough of Great Grimsby, in the county of Lincoln, who were voters and voted at the last election for members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough of Great Grimsby, on behalf of themselves and others, free burgesses and voters of the said borough of Great Grimsby, was read; setting forth,

"That, at the last election for the borough of Great Grimsby, on the 6th of October 1812, John Henry Loft, esq., Ebenezer John Collett, esq., Sir Robert Heron, bart., and John Peter Grant, esq., were candidates; and that the said petitioners, who have thereunto signed their names, were then and now are free burgesses and voters of the said borough, and voted at the said last election; and that, on the 5th of October last, being the day preceding the election, William Wardale, esq., the mayor of the said borough, and returning officer, held a full court of mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses of the said borough, at which said court the said W. Wardale did partially and corruptly, wilfully, unlawfully, and of his own authority, admit certain persons to the freedom of the said borough who were not entitled thereto, and did neglect and refuse to submit to the consideration and judgment of the said court, the claimed right of such persons to be admitted to their freedom, which by the constitution and usage of the said borough he ought to have done; that the said W. Wardale did also partially and corruptly, wilfully, unlawfully, and of his own autho rity, refuse to admit certain other persons who were entitled and claimed at the said full court to be admitted freemen of the said borough, to their freedom therein, some of whom had been declared, decided, and established by a Committee of the House to have such claims, rights, and titles, and did also neglect and refuse to submit to the aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses of the said borough, in the said full court assembled, the rights and claims of such persons to be admitted to their freedom of the said borough, and which, by the constitution and usage of the said borough, he ought to have done; that the said W. Wardale did wilfully, partially, corruptly, illegally, and of his own authority, in direct violation of the laws of the realm, the constitution and usage of the said borough, and also in wilful opposition to the decisions of Committees of the House, and which

decisions had been established by Orders and Resolutions of the House, persist in discharging the said full court of mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses on the evening of the said 5th of October, although he then knew that many persons who had rights and claims to be admitted to their freedoms of and in the said borough were then waiting and remaining in the said borough for that purpose, who had spoken to him the said W. Wardale thereupon, and to whom he had given his promise that the said full court should be adjourned until the next morning, as was usually and heretofore the case, and on which day, being Tuesday, it ought to have been held: but he, finding that the whole, or nearly so, of the persons then within the borough, who were likely to vote for the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant, whose cause and interest he had most publicly and glaringly espoused, had gained their admissions, he, by the most determined, wilful, and flagrant injustice, discharged the court, not only without putting it to the consideration and judgment of the aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses, but in direct and positive opposition to the almost unanimous claim of them all, upon a motion put by one alderman, a burgess, and seconded by another alderman, a burgess, to have it adjourned to the next morning, as by law and the custom and usage of the said borough he ought to have done, but he actually did order the discharge,' and did discharge the said court accordingly without any adjournment; and that, on the next day, the 6th of October last, being the day of election, great numbers of persons having undoubted rights and claims to be admitted to their freedoms of the said borough, did make application to and demand of the said W. Wardale, in court, to hold a full court, that they might be legally admitted, and did demand and claim to be so admitted to their freedom of the said borough, without which they were incapable of using their elective franchises and birth-rights at the said election for members to serve in this present parliament, and which said demands and applications for the said full court and admissions to the freedom of the said borough were supported by great numbers of the aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses, to prevent such wilful, determined, and flagrant acts of injustice; but the said W. Wardale, did most wilfully, wantonly, vexatiously, cor

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ruptly, partially, illegally, and of his own authority, refuse to hold such full court for the admission of the said persons to their freedoms of the said borough, and did refuse to put their claims for their admissions to their freedoms of the said borough to the aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses then and there assembled, but did most wantonly, vexatiously, and corruptly refuse to grant them their said freedoms of the said borough, and did proceed to the election without attending to those persons who unimpeachably claimed their freedoms by the unquestionable rights of birth, marriage, and servitude, which claims and demands were many times repeated in the course of the said 6th of October by the said parties, and by burgesses on their behalf, which said claims and demands the said W. Wardale constantly resisted and refused, as also to put their said claims and demands to the judgment of the said aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses so assembled for their decision, which, according to the usage and customs of the said borough of Great Grimsby, he ought to have done; and, for the neglect of so submitting the said claims to the said aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses so assembled, the said W. Wardale could not use the plea of ignorance, having been a gownman on the bench, and taking an active part and opposition to John Simpson the mayor and returning officer of the said borough in July 1802, when the said John Simpson took upon himself to decide like claims and rights without submitting them to the judgment and decision of the aldermen, common councilmen, and burgesses then and there assembled, for which the House, to mark its indignation, and to be a warning and example to other mayors and returning officers of the said borough of Great Grimsby, did commit the said John Simpson, the then said mayor and returning officer, to his majesty's gaol of Newgate: That the said W. Wardale, at and during the said last election, did act most partially and corruptly in the execution of his said office of returning officer, and did at the poll reject the votes of many persons having right and rights to vote at the said election, and who tendered their votes for the said J. H. Loft and the said E. J. Collett esquires, and which votes he, as such returning officer at the said election, ought to have received and admitted on the poll; and the only reasons that they

were not so received and placed on the said poll, were his own acts of injustice, partiality, and corruption, in not holding the full court for their admissions to their freedoms of the said borough, and some of which persons had been decided to have legal rights by a decision of a Committee of the House on a former Petition being tried: That the said W. Wardale, the said mayor and returning officer, did, at the said last election, receive and admit on the said poll, for the said sir R. Heron, bart., and J. P. Grant, the votes of divers paupers, felon convicts, non-resident or foreign freemen, and others who had no right to vote at the said election, and which votes he, the said W. Wardale, as such returning officer, ought to have rejected: That persons having rights to vote at the said last election, and who went for the purpose of tendering their votes for the said J. H. Loft, and E. J. Collett, were prevented going into the hall by armed persons, stationed at the door by the said W. Wardale, the said returning officer, and never could tender their votes; and that the said sir R. Heron, bart., and J. P. Grant were, and each of them, by himself, his agents, managers, and others, on their and his behalf, before, at, and during the said election, and before and during the poll taken at the said election, guilty of the most open and notorious bribery and corruption of the electors of the said borough, to give their votes for them and each of them the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant, and to refuse and forbear to give their votes for the said J. H. Loft and E. J. Collett, in order that they the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant might be returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough: That the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant, and each of them, by himself his agents and managers, and by other persons on his and their behalf, at and during the said election, and previous to the same, did, by gifts, loans and rewards, and by threats, promises, agreements and securities for gifts, loans and rewards, corrupt and procure, and attempt to corrupt and procure, divers persons, being electors of the said borough, to give their votes at the said election for them the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant, and each of them, that they the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant might be elected and returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough; that they and each of them also did, by gifts, loans and rewards,

violation and defiance of the standing order and orders of the House, and of the laws and statutes of this kingdom, particularly an Act of the 7th and 8th of king William 3, intituled, An Act for preventing charge and expence in the elections of members to serve in parliament, an Act of the 2d of king George the 2d, intitled, An Act for the more effectual preventing bribery and corruption in the elections of members to serve in parliament; an Act of the 49th year of his present Majesty, intitled, An Act for better securing the independence and purity of parliament, by preventing the procuring or obtaining of seats in parliament by corrupt practices; and that the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant did each of them declare to those persons having voices in the said election, and which statements were made previous thereto, that they had the interest of 'two peers of parliament, by which means they acquired an undue influence over many of the voters who would otherwise have voted for the said J. H. Loft and E. J. Collett; and that by this unconstitutional mode, in violation of the orders of the House, and by other undue influence and means which were used, many votes were lost to the said J. H. Loft and E. J. Collett, for the purpose of the said sir R. Heron and the said J. P. Grant being elected and returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough: that by the above-stated and other unlawful means the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant obtained a colourable majority over the said J. H. Loft and E. J. Collett of votes upon the poll of the said last election, and were returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough of Grimsby, to the very great injury of the petitioners, and many other of the legal electors of the said borough, in manifest violation of their privileges and rights, and in open defiance of the laws and freedom of election: that the peti tioners humbly conceive that the said J. H. Loft and the said E. J. Collett had the greatest number of legal and uncorrupted votes at the said last election; and praying, that the House will be pleased to take their most peculiarly hard case under their most serious consideration, and that they will grant them such relief as to the House may seem meet."

and by threats, promises and agreements, | and securities for gifts, loans and rewards, corrupt and procure, and attempt to corrupt and procure, divers persons being electors of the said borough to refuse and forbear to give their votes at the said election for the said J. H. Loft and E. J. Collett, that the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant might be elected and returned for the said borough: That the said sir R. Heron, bart., and J. P. Grant, and each of them, by himself, his agents, managers, friends, and other persons on his and their behalf, were guilty of the most open and public bribery and corruption, in giving sums of money, and promises and securities for sums of money to the corporation, and to and for the use and benefit of the corporation and corporators, such corporators being voters, and having had votes in the said last election for the said borough, and that they were also guilty of bribery and corruption in giving sums of money to and for the use and benefit of the said borough previous to, at, and during the said last election of members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough, in order that they the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant might be elected and returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough: That the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant did, after the dissolution of the last parliament, and after the issuing of the writ for the election of this present parliament, and at and during the said last election, by themselves and their agents, managers and friends, and by others on their behalf, and at their charge, and each of them, by himself, his agents, friends, and managers, and by others on his behalf, and at his charge, give, present, and allow to divers persons having voices in the said election, and to and for their use and benefit, money, meat, drink, entertainment, and provision, and make presents, gifts, rewards, and entertainments, and promises, agreements, obligations, and engagements, to give and allow money, meat, drink, provisions, presents, rewards, and entertainments to and for divers persons having voices in the said last election, and to and for the use, advantage, emolument, benefit, profit, and preferment of such persons, in order that they the said sir R. Heron and J. P. Grant might be elected and returned, and for their being elected and returned members to serve in this present parliament for the said borough, contrary to the common laws and customs of parliament, in (VOL. XXIV.)

Ordered to be taken into consideration on the 16th of February.

SUDBURY ELECTION (0)

PETITION OF

FREEMEN.] A Petition of the rev. John Newman, clerk, Thomas Fenn esq. John Addison esq., Robert Anderson, Robert Daking, Henry Hayward, John Holman the younger, Joseph Herbert the elder, John Burkitt, Edward Burkitt, James Ablitt the elder, and John Barker the younger, freemen of the borough of Sudbury, in the county of Suffolk, was read; setting forth,

the said borough, such votes as were given to him and in his favour are and ought to be considered as null and void; and that the return and election of the said C. Wyatt, ought also to be considered as null and void; and that the said C. Wyatt ought to be deemed no member duly elected for the said borough; and praying, that a day may be appointed by the House for taking the premises into consideration, and that the election of the said C. Wyatt may be declared null and void, and his incapacity to sit and vote as member for the said borough of Sudbury, be declared, and that the House will otherwise grant to the petitioners such relief in the premises as to the House shall seem meet."

Ordered to be taken into consideration on Tuesday the 16th of February.

HASLEMERE ELECTION-PETITION OF MESSRS. GRAVES.] A Petition of Richard Graves and of Samuel Colleton Graves, of Hembury Fort, in the county of Devon, esquires, was presented and read; setting forth,

"That, at the last election of members to serve in this present parliament for the borough of Haslemere, in the county of Surrey, the right hon. Charles Long, Robert Ward esq., and the petitioners, were candidates; and that George Frederick Gordon, who then exercised the office of bailiff of the said borough, and acted as returning officer thereof, did, after a poll had been duly demanded at the said election, postpone the commencement thereof unnecessarily and illegally to the next day at 12 o'clock, under a false pretence, for the purpose of harassing the petitioners by delay; and that the said G. F. Gordon was, at and before, and during, the said

"That, previously to, and at, the last general election, 'the petitioners were freemen of the said borough of Sudbury, and had, and claimed to have, a right to vote for members to represent the said borough in parliament; and that, at the said last general election, sir John Cox Hippesley bart. and Charles Wyatt esq., were candidates, and were returned as members having been duly elected for the said borough; and that, after the teste of the writ of summons for the election of proper persons to represent the said borough of Sudbury, and before the said election, and also at and during the time of the said election, and before the return made, the said Charles Wyatt did, by himself, and by his agents and friends, with his privity and consent, and by his directions, and on his behalf, give to divers electors of the said borough, or persons being, or claiming to be, electors of the said borough, and having votes at such election, money, meat, drink, entertainment, and provision, and the said C. Wyatt, his agents and friends, with his privity and consent, and by his directions, did also make and give such persons, so having votes as aforesaid, presents, gifts, rewards, and entertainments, and did also, previously to and at the time of the said election, make promises and agreements, and enter into obligations and engagements, to give and allow such per sons money, meat, drink, provision, pre-election, guilty of gross and corrupt parsents, rewards, and entertainments, in order that the said C. Wyatt might be elected as one of the representatives in parliament for the said borough; and that, by reason of such conduct, the said C. Wyatt acted in defiance of the standing orders of the House, and in violation of the laws and statutes of the realm, and thereby the petitioners submit to the House that the said C. Wyatt became and was incapable of being returned or elected to serve in parliament for the said borough; and that the petitioners submit to the House, that the said C. Wyatt, having so become le gally incapable of being returned and elected as one of the representatives for

tiality in favour of the said C. Long and R. Ward, to the injury of the petitioners, and did, by himself or his agent, after the dissolution of the last parliament, and the issuing the writ for the said election, and previous to the closing of the poll, allow, or cause or procure to be given and allowed, by various ways and means, to divers persons who had or claimed a right to vote in the said election, money neat drink entertainment and provision, and did make, and allow to be made, promises to give and allow money meat drink and provisions to such persons, or to the use and benefit of such persons, in order to obtain their vote at

the said election for the said C. Long and R. Ward; and that the said C. Long and R. Ward, by themselves or their agents, their friends or their adherents, after the teste of the writ, before and during the said election, by various ways and means, did give, allow, and promise and permit to be so given, allowed, and promised, money meat drink provision and entertainment to divers persons, or to and for the use of divers persons claiming a right to vote at the said election, in order to obtain their votes, contrary to the express law of the land; and that the said G. F. Gordon, as such returning officer, did illegally admit divers persons to vote at the said election for the said C. Long and R. Ward, who had no legal or good right to vote at such election, and rejected and disallowed the votes of several persons who had a good and legal right and title to vote at such election, and who tendered themselves to vote for the petitioners, and whose votes ought to have been received and entered on the poll; and that divers other persons, who were duly qualified to vote at the said election, and who were then and there present at the time and place of the said election, who were ready, willing, and desirous to vote for the petitioners, were intimidated by threats, and were thereby and otherwise prevented by the said C. Long and R. Ward, or their agents or others on their behalf, from giving their votes for the petitioners as they otherwise would have done; and that, by the aforesaid illegal and corrupt conduct of the said G. F. Gordon, as such returning officer, and by the said unlawful and corrupt practices of the said C. Long and R. Ward, by themselves, or by their agents or others on their behalf, the said C. Long and R. Ward obtained a colourable majority over the petitioners, and procured themselves to be returned for the said borough, to the prejudice of the petitioners, and in violation of their rights; whereas the petitioners allege that they had a majority of good and legal voters, who were willing to vote for them, and tendered their votes; and that the petitioners ought to have been returned for the said borough; and that the said C. Long and R. Ward were not duly and sufficiently qualified by law to serve in parliament for the said borough, and that they are also disqualified from being elected as members of the House by the pensions and places possessed by them or either of them, or to and for their use and

benefit, contrary to the usage and pri. vileges of the House, and to the express law of the land; and praying, that the said C. Long and R. Ward may be declared not duly elected, and that the petitioners may be declared duly elected, and the return amended accordingly. and that the petitioners may be allowed such relief as to the House shall appear meet."

Ordered, to be taken into consideration upon the 18th of February.

RE

Mr.

ADDRESS FOR COMMUNICATIONS SPECTING THE SLAVE TRADE.] Wilberforce, observing that there had been recently published in the daily prints. some circumstances of a nature calculated to excite the attention and anxiety of all those who felt an interest in the complete accomplishment of that most important object, the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and that it was highly advisable that the most satisfactory information relative to these circumstances should be laid before. parliament, moved "That an humble Address be presented to his royal highness the Prince Regent, that he will be graciously pleased to give directions that there be laid before this House, copies of all communications from the governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and from the governor of the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, received since the capture of those settlements respectively, so far as they relate to the carrying on of the Slave Trade in those settlements, or in any of the neighbouring islands."

Mr. Browne said, he did not rise to oppose the motion, but he could not refrain from saying that if an excuse were wanting for that sort of evasion of the Abolition Bill, of which the honourable member complained, it was to be found in that system of recruiting in Africa which had been lately established under the authority of government for the purpose of filling up the ranks of the Black regiments in the West Indies; a system which, while it had the effect of reviving, nay and of perpetuating all the evils of a trade which had been characterised as inhuman and unjust, had, at the same time, the effect of inducing in the eyes of Europe, a doubt of the sincerity and good faith of our intentions on the great question of the abolition of that trade, and at a time, too, when as his Majesty's ministers had before informed the House, they were using their utmost endeavours to effect a general

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