able principle of our existing constitution--the principle of
prescription--which sanctioned the descent, and secured the possession
of all kinds of property in this country. It went to destroy a number of
boroughs--some holding by prescription, and some by charter--and for no
reason whatever, except that such was the will of the minister of the
day. Lord Wharncliffe, who had moved the amendment which threw out the
former bill, had now come to the conclusion that the danger of rejecting
the bill was greater than that of taking it into consideration; and
that, by going into committee they might get rid of those parts of it
against which a strong objection was felt; and, at all events, would be
enabled more thoroughly to weigh its provisions. The effect of rejecting
the bill, in his opinion, would be to place all those who voted against
the second reading in a perilous situation with the country. The Duke of
Buckingham opposed the bill. His grace introduced no new argument,
but urged the house at all costs to resist reform in every shape. He
severely animadverted upon the speech of the Earl of Shrewsbury, for
attacking the constitution and the ministers of the protestant religion.
The Bishops of Lincoln and Llandaff, who had opposed the last bill, now
announced their intention of voting for the second reading; at the same
time they did not pledge themselves to adopt the measure as a whole. On
the other hand, the Bishop of Exeter announced his intention of giving
the bill his decided opposition. His speech gave occasion to an angry
episode, founded on a somewhat common occurrence. It was generally
believed that the Times newspaper, which had recently distinguished
itself by great abuse in favour of the bill, was not altogether excluded
from the confidential communications of ministers. The Bishop of Exeter,
in descanting on the tone and the temper of the press, spoke of some
articles in this journal as "breathing the inspiration of the treasury."
On the following evening Lord Durham, son-in-law of the premier,
assuming that he was the party pointed at, attacked what he called "the
bishop's gross and virulent invective--his malignant, calumnious, and
false insinuations--his well-known powers of pamphleteering slang." Here
the noble lord was called to order, and the Earl of Winchelsea moved
that the words "false insinuations" and "pamphleteering slang" should
be taken down. After some observations from Earl Grey, Lord Holland,