against thirty-seven; and, thus victorious, Lord Lyndhurst
immediately moved another, to preserve the freemen their parliamentary
franchise as secured by the reform bill. Lord Melbourne was hostile to
this amendment; but as there was no hope of success, he did not call
for a division, and it was adopted. Another amendment, moved by
Lord Lyndhurst, which required a certain qualification in the town
councillors, after stern opposition from the ministers, was carried by
a majority of one hundred and twenty to thirty-nine. The next alteration
proposed by the opposition peers was an amendment which provided that a
fixed proportion of the town-council should hold office for life. This
was described by the supporters of the bill as being more glaringly
inconsistent with the principle of the bill than any of those which had
been adopted. To agree to it, they said, was to lose the bill; but it
was carried by one hundred and twenty-six against thirty-nine. Further
amendments proposed by the conservative peers were agreed to without
much discussion, and without any division. The provisions which declared
that persons who were at present justices of the peace under borough
charters should cease to be so in future, were struck out, as were the
clauses which took from the county magistrates, and gave to the new
town-councils the power of granting licenses. The ecclesiastical
patronage of the town-council was further limited to the members of the
church of England; and it was decided that town-clerks should hold
their offices during good behaviour. All towns containing six thousand
inhabitants instead of twelve thousand were to be divided into wards;
and the number of councillors allotted to each was to be fixed by a
compound ratio of members and property. Finally, instead of the power of
dividing boroughs into wards, and fixing the number of councillors which
each ward should return, being left to the king in council, who could
only act through commissioners, it was given to the revising barristers;
and instead of the determination of the boundaries of the burgal
territory being left to the government of the new councils, the peers
retained it in the hands of parliament. The bill, as amended, was passed
by the house of lords on the 28th of August, and the amendments were
brought before the commons on the 31st. Lord John Russell in bringing
them before the house, said that the lords, by their mode of proceeding,
had caused their own am