This is the third session in which the disfranchisement of

the borough of East Retford, for corruption, has occupied the attention of the House of Commons. The Commons had decided that the borough should be disfranchised, and the right of election transferred to Manchester; but the House of Lords threw out the bill, Lord Eldon having pronounced an opinion that it would not be legal to disfranchise the whole voters, because a majority of them had not been convicted of bribery and corruption. During these proceedings East Retford was actually unrepresented ; and to remedy the defect, Mr. G. LAMB now' brought up and supported a petition praying that the Speaker should issue his writ for the election of a representative for that borough. Mr. LITTLETON protested against the pnnciple acted upon by The Huse of Lords. Mr. PEEL seemed to think that thkie *eft great diffieulfies in the way of disfranchising East Retford : hew aFt opposed to anyp her alteration than that of transferring the tranship tothe film 'of Bassetlaw. Lord JOHN RUSSELL contended, that the House was bound by its own deliberate decision ; and if the salutary amendment at present contemplated should again be obstructed in the House of Lords, or lost through the prorogation of Parliament, the responsibility would rest upon the House of Lords and the servants of the Crown. Sir CHARLES FORBES said, that if every borough in which corruption existed was to be disfranchised, they would have but a thin House. He blamed the manner in which this game was kept up by all parties from session to session ; and wished to put an end to it, by allowing the Speaker to issue his writ. The petition having been disposed of, Mr. TENNYSON, the member for Bletchingly, moved for leave to bring in a bill to transfer the elective franchise from East Retford to Birmingham.

Mr. N. CALVERT objected not to Birmingham possessing the right of representation ; but he objected to its being invested with this right at the expense of a landed district inadequately represented : for the present, every useful purpose would be served by throwing the election for East Retford open to the hundred of Bassetlaw.

Mr. G. BANKES supported the latter proposition.

Lord NORMANBY thought it would be better for the House spontaneously to transfer the forfeited right to some large unrepresented town, than to defer giving such towns an interest in the representation till they were compelled to do so under the fear of danger or the pressure of necessity. Mr. WILBRAHAM, Mr. WOOD, Mr. FERGUSSON, Mr. LIDDELL, Mr. WYNN, and Mr. ALDERMAN WAITHMAN, supported the principle of extending the elective franchise.

Sir JOSEPH YORKE had also (although it was but of late that he began to consider himself as a Reformer) come to the resolution that he could not make this a narrow question relative to a particular hundred : he should acquiesce in the doctrine formerly laid down by Mr. Peel as to the disfranchisement of Penryn and East Retford, that the franchise should be transferred to some large and populous town. And, he continued, "The best town for this purpose, I think, is that designated by the honourable member for Bletchingly, and it shall be with me Birmingham ; for I own that I am led by the new light which is illuminating us all. The new light and the new doctrines are striking into almost every member, and putting out the old light, and rendering the old doctrines obsolete, just as the old oil lamps are put out by the new ns-works. (Lauglder.) I consider this transfer will lead to a real reform in 'Parliament, if the example we shall set in this instance be followed—and a judicious reform too, by which a venal and corrupt borough will be disfranchised, and the elective right transferred to an enlightened and flourishing plvce."

Mr. HusiossoN, in an able speech—which glanced sarcastically 1 at the surprising political changes since Mr. Canning's accession to the Premiership—supported the measure as one of the best means of yreventingParhamentary reform on the "

" If Birmingham ought to be represented at all—which he thought there were cogent reasons for admitting—ought a question to arise upon the alternative whether such a town, or whether a hundred in the county, like Bassetlaw—emphatically named in the local topography as the Duhery—should have the benefit of being directly represented ? Enough was it for him, upon . the general principle, to know that the county of Nottingham had now eight representatives ; and that Warwickshire, the depository of great trading interests, had only six, and with a population so much denser and more conflicting, and under every circumstance so very differently constituted. Why, there had not been for a century so good an opportunity of remedying a state of things arising out of the altered condition of society. He reminded the House of those subjects which were just budding into life, but which would next session occupy the most earnest attention of Parliament, and call into notice an expression of the feelings of every interest in the country. He alluded to the probability of an attempt to renew the charters of the Bank of England and of the East India Company. Would it be said, that Birmingham had no higher interests in this question than the hundred of Bassetlaw? or that the members of the county of Warwick, however well-informed upon general subjects, could so well understand to represent the interests of the manufacturers as those men who might be chosen by themselves, and who were placed in constant communication with their constituents ? It was impossible to say that the members chosen from every part of the country could adequately represent the interests of the manufacturers under such circumstances ; and this formed, in his opinion, one of the strongest arguments against placing them under a virtual representation. He felt strongly on-this subject, and the more strongly because he believed there was not one town in the kingdom in which the iron trade is carried on, or possessed by, an actual representative ; and he therefore implored the Government to consider the claims which the manufacturers connected with that trade had

upon their attention. He was convinced, indeed, that the concession he required would produce an universal feeling of content and satisfaction ; al though, for his part, he was disposed to go much further, and not only dis franchise those boroughs which were found to be corrupt, but even confer

upon Manchester, Leeds, and Sheffield, the power of representation. By

adopting such a course, he was confident the Government would obtain for these places, and for the whole of the manufacturing districts of Lancashire,

a guarantee and a security for the patience and loyalty of the people, and for

their good behaviour, and their co-operation under all circumstances of peril

or of difficulty. For these reasons, he supported the transfer to Birmingham ;

while, at the same time, he hoped Lord John Russell would move at once to confer a direct representation to the towns of Manchester, Leeds, and Shef field."

Lord JOHN RUSSELL expressed his determination to do so either in this or the next session. Mr. BROUGHAM thought, that if the elective franchise was conferred on Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham, and on Edinburgh and Glasgow, almost all that could be required in the shape of reform would be effected. Mr. PEEL took the narrower view of the question : he admitted that a sufficient case had been made out against East Retford to warrant a disfranchisement, but he thought that a sufficient warning would be held out to delinquent boroughs by throwing the election open to the hundred.

The House divided on Mr. Tennyson's motion ; and it was negatived by 197 votes to ill.

Mr. CALVERT then proposed to bring in a bill to give effect to the decision of the majority; but Lord JOHN RUSSELL opposed some formal obstacles. His lordship is on Monday to try the temper of the House to transfer the right of voting to one of the large manufacturing towns.