14 JANUARY 1871, Page 2

The law is bard upon Mr. Tillett, M.P. for Norwich.

He stood for that borough in 1868 on purity principles, and it was shown in evidence tried honestly to act upon them. He was, however, obliged to submit to a coalition with Sir W. Russell, the other Liberal candidate, and one of Sir W. Russell's agents, Mr. 0. D. Ray, was, in the opinion of the Court which tried the case, guilty of bribery ; and Mr. Tillett, having coalesced with Sir W. Russell, must legally be held to have made Ray his agent. A. perfectly pure election followed in 1870, but Mr. Tillett is still liable for the old offence, and on petition the judge, Mr. Justice Keating, was compelled, with great reluctance, to unseat him.. He, however, described the conviction as " a cruel consequence of the law of agency," and refused costs. In defending the law, Mr. Justice heating, according to the report in the Times, uttered this noteworthy remark,—" It might seem hard that a single act of bribery should void the election, but it was not necessary that a candidate should be tainted at all ; when acts of bribery were committed, the election became utterly void." Does that mean that if a Tory bribes an elector to vote for the Liberal, the Liberal is to be unseated ? If so, how can any member ever be returned, at all ? There will be always one man unscrupulous enough to bribe on the adversary's behalf.