is in front of the nation; and in that place this House will
assuredly be found. Whatever prejudice or weakness may do
elsewhere to ruin the empire, here, I trust, will not be wanting
the wisdom, the virtue, and the energy that may save it.

...


PARLIAMENTARY REFORM. (OCTOBER 10, 1831)

A SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS ON THE 10TH OF
OCTOBER, 1831.

On the morning of Saturday, the eighth of October, 1831, the
House of Lords, by a majority of 190 to 158, rejected the Reform
Bill. On the Monday following, Lord Ebrington, member for
Devonshire, moved the following resolution in the House of
Commons:

"That while this House deeply laments the present fate of a bill
for amending the representation of the people in England and
Wales, in favour of which the opinion of the country stands
unequivocally pronounced, and which has been matured by
discussions the most anxious and laborious, it feels itself
called upon to reassert its firm adherence to the principle and
leading provisions of that great measure, and to express its
unabated confidence in the integrity, perseverance, and ability
of those Ministers, who, in introducing and conducting it, have
so well consulted the best interests of the country."