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 COUNTY REFORM. 
 
 OPINION 
 
 SIR J. S. SEBRIGHT. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 ROAKE AND VAKTY, PRINTKRS, Jl, STRAND. 
 
COUNTY REFORM. 
 
 OPINION 
 
 SIR J. S. SEBRIGHT, 
 
 \ 
 
 IN REPLY TO 
 
 A LETTER FROM A FREEHOLDER AT NUT- 
 FORD, TO SIR J. S. SEBRIGHT, 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF VOTES BEING GIVEN TO, OR WITHHELD 
 
 FROM, FARMERS BEING TENANTS AT WILL, OR UNDER 
 
 A LEASE, FOR A LESS TERM THAN 21 YEARS. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING ANSWER 
 
 *HAS BEEN RECEIVED, TO THE BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF 
 WHICH ANSWER, WE SUBJOIN A FEW 
 
 EXPLANATORY NOTES. 
 
 Jermyn Street^ March 26, 1831. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 ROAKE AND VARTY, 31, STRAND, 
 
 1831. 
 

COUNTY REFORM. 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 You need make no apology for 
 writing to me, for nothing gives me 
 more satisfaction than to hear what are 
 the opinions and wishes of my consti- 
 tuents, or of the inhabitants of the 
 county in general, for I consider my- 
 
 Ml5:l219 
 
6 
 
 selftobethe representative of both. ^*^ 
 In respect to the subject of your letter, 
 I am quite sure that the Legislature 
 vv ill never give the right of voting for 
 counties to tenants who have not a lease 
 of, at the least, twenty-one years. ^^^ 
 The. principle of the proposed Bill 
 is, to give the elective franchise (as 
 far , as counties are concerned) to 
 
 ^^^ Sir John^ we see, begins by ad- 
 mitting, that Members may be the re- 
 presentatives of those who have not 
 voted for them ; this is the great argu- 
 ment for the present state of the repre- 
 sentations, and against the Bill. 
 
 ^*^ And why not, good Sir John ?' is a 
 man's capucUy and independence to be 
 measured' by the length of his lea$e t 
 
75 
 
 those only who have an interest for 
 life ^^^ in house or land ; or, an in- 
 terest for such a terms of years as 
 may be considered long enough to 
 make the tenant, in a great degree, 
 independent of his landlord. I am 
 quite sure that our intelligent far- 
 mers will see, after a moment's con- 
 
 (3) <^An interest for lifcp in house or 
 land,^^ is already a freehold; and con- 
 fers a vote, without any thanks to the 
 new Bill. Sir John, it seems, does not 
 understand the very laws which he wishes 
 to alter; but why should a farmer, who 
 may rent a hundred or five hundred acres, 
 be denied the power of voting, when a 
 ten pound householder is to be favoured 
 with that right ? 
 
8 
 
 sideration, that if the elective fran- 
 chise were given to tenants at will, or 
 to those having short leases, it would 
 give the election of county Members 
 entirely to large landed proprietors ; 
 and that free, popular elections, such 
 as exist in our county, would be en- 
 tirely at an end. In many counties 
 the Members are now the nominees 
 of one or more great proprietors/*^ 
 
 ^*^ The Bill makes that matter ten 
 times worse", for it dismembers the ma- 
 jority of counties, dividing them into two 
 districts ; so that great proprietor s, who 
 now have only a certain weight in the 
 counties^ might, (and in many cases cer- 
 tainly would^ have an overwhelming in- 
 fluence in a district » 
 
9 
 
 It is only at the last election that 
 Cambridgeshire has emancipated it- 
 self from** this thraldom. 
 
 The Bill now before the House is, in 
 my opinion, well calculated to effect its 
 object ; which is, that the representa- 
 tives of the people should be chosen 
 by the people ; but it is impossible, 
 in a measure of this kind, all should 
 be satisfied. This Bill will be 
 violently opposed both directly, or 
 by the more dangerous mode of pro- 
 posing amendments ; and I think, 
 that those who are real friends to 
 substantial Reform, should support 
 the measure as proposed by the Mi- 
 nisters. This, therefore, is the line 
 
10 
 
 of conduct that I shall adopt. No- 
 thing will be more fatal to the mea- 
 sure, than for its friends to split upon 
 its minor parts, ^^^ and there is no 
 doubt but that every act will be re- 
 sorted to, to induce them so to do. 
 
 A dissolution is about to take 
 place, when I shall again offer my- 
 self to the county ; and as I am at 
 
 ^^^ That is, you must not consider the 
 details of the Bill, if you wish to have 
 a good opinion of it. No man thinks 
 well of all the parts of the Bill, and 
 therefore you must swallow it in the 
 lump— for if you examine it, you must 
 reject it. We thank you, good Sir 
 John, for this admission. 
 
11 
 
 all times desirous that my consti- 
 tuents should know my opinions, -^^ 
 and, above all, upon this question so 
 important to the vital interests of 
 the country, I shall be obliged to 
 you to make this letter as public as 
 you can. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, very faithfully, 
 
 (Signed) J. S. Sebright. 
 
 ^^^ Your opinions are valuable in this 
 way, because^ as these notes show, they 
 are founded on false facts and false 
 reasons ; and as you have said all you 
 could for the Bill, and as tSat all is 
 just NOTHING, the Bill is dauiaged by 
 your inefficient and absurd arguments. 
 
_:__,. .,.,_._,._ll^ 
 
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