was only to state that ministers had succeeded in
framing a measure which would be effective, without exceeding the
bounds of a just and well-advised moderation; that it had received the
unanimous assent of the government, and that it would be introduced into
the house of commons at an early period.

INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORM BILL.

The measure of reform concocted by ministers was brought forward on
the 1st of March by Lord John Russell, to whom, though not a cabinet
minister, it was entrusted, in consideration of his constant and
strenuous exertions in this great question. His lordship commenced by
stating, that he was about to propose what had been formed in the mind
of Earl Grey himself. Ministers, he said, had discarded the notion of
complying with violent and extravagant demands, and had framed a measure
which would satisfy every reasonable man in the country. They wished
to take their stand between two hostile parties; neither agreeing with
those, on the one hand, who thought that no reform was necessary, nor
with others who conceived that only one particular reform could be
wholesome or satisfactory. His lordship then proceeded to detail the
plan by which ministers proposed to satisfy a demand for reform which,
as they themselves believed, could be no longer resisted. That plan had
been framed so as to remove the reasonable complaints of the people,
which complaints were principally directed, first, against nomination by
individuals; secondly, against elections by corporations; and, thirdly,
against electioneering expenses. As regards the first two grounds of
complaint, the ministerial plan consisted, first, in disfranchisement,
in whole or in part, of places which had hitherto sent members
to parliament; secondly, of enfranchisement, in order to enable
unrepresented places to elect members; and, thirdly, of an extension
of the franchise, in order to increase the number of electors in those
places which were to be allowed to retain, in whole, or in part,
their existing privileges. The part of the plan which related to
disfranchisement proceeded on a plain rule; namely, to disfranchise all
boroughs whose population did not exceed a certain number. It was true,
said Lord John Russell, it would be extremely difficult to ascertain the
wealth, trade, extent, and population of a given number of places; but
we have been governed by the population return of 1821, and we propose
that every borough which at that d