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The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria cover

The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. / From the Accession of George III. to the Twenty-Third Year of the Reign of Queen Victoria

Chapter 1110: MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.
By Edward Farr
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About This Book

The volume traces British political, parliamentary, and military developments from the accession of George III through the early nineteenth century, chronicling changes of ministry and cabinet, debates over colonial taxation and the American conflict, parliamentary controversies involving figures such as Wilkes and Warren Hastings, questions of Catholic relief and slave-trade abolition, and responses to the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars, including major naval and continental campaigns, the union with Ireland, and domestic legislation on finance, civil liberties, and parliamentary reform.

MOTION FOR THE BALLOT.

On the 15th of February Mr. Grote made his annual motion for the ballot. The debate at this time was expected with considerable interest, because it was generally understood to be a question which was becoming an element of disunion in the camp of the reformers. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ward, and supported by Mr. E. L. Bulwer. Mr. Ward, in seconding the motion, intimated that after Lord John Russell’s declaration respecting the ballot, the extension of the suffrage, and the duration of parliaments, the people were anxious to see how far the other members of the administration were prepared to identify their opinions with those of the noble lord. He represented the constituents of Sir John Hobhouse, Mr. Poulett Thomson, Sir Hussey Vivian, and Sir Henry Parnell as especially watching their conduct in this matter, and concluded by expressing his conviction that anything like a government opposition to the measure would “have for its effect the production of a new combination most important to the country and to that house.” Lord John Russell again manfully stated his general objections to the change; and Sir Robert Peel, in a speech of considerable power, attacked the system of secret voting with effect. On a division, the motion was lost by a majority of three hundred and fifteen against one hundred and ninety-eight.