THE SCOTCH DEFAULTERS.
Or the Scottish Representatives, only four have belied the hopes of their constituents. Mr. HOPE JOHNSTONE is a worthy gentleman, but he has always been an avowed Tory, yielding to the Reform Bill be- cause he found resistance vain. Sir "ANDREW AGNEW'S saintly course has been so wayward, that no mortal had any apology for relying upon him. But there are some Members who have fairly duped their con- stituents by false professions.
First on the list, stands Mr. JOHN MAxwm.L, the soi-disant Liberal Member for Lanarkshire. Mr. MAXWELL had not the courage to vote against Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S resolution —he sneaked out of the House after the vote was called ; and when Lord JOHN moved his second or supplementary resolution, Mr. MAXWELL, still without vot- ing, made a speech against it. At first, he had no better excuse to offer for keeping out of the way, than the absence of the word " Chris- tian " from the resolution. He has since, however, we are informed, bethought him of a better apology—he has remembered (or discovered) that in his address to the constituency of Lanarkshire, and in his speech from the hustings, he pledged himself to wait till the report of the Irish Church Commissioners should show whether there were a surplus or not, and in the event of there being one, to take the opinion of his constituents as to what ought to be done with it. " There- fore," says Mr. MAXWELL," I acted quite in conformity with my pledge in abstaining from voting." Not exactly in conformity with its voids; and unless it were meant as an equivoque, which should have one mean-
ing to the hearer and another to the speaker, not exactly in con-
formity with its sense. Mr. MAXWELL'S declaration, by recognizing the right of his constituents to prescribe the mode of dealing with the surplus, recognized the principle of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S motion. In this sense it was understood by them. It is not, however, a mere simple breach of faith on the part of the Member for Lanark- shire—it is evident that he had contemplated beforehand the juggle he is now attempting to play off. The declaration, that under certain circumstances be would take the opinion of his constituents, has evi- dently been made solely for the purpose of enabling him to hedge as he did on the late occasion. While he was in the act of making the fairest promises to his constituents, be was planning how lie could most easily escape from performing them. Conte qu'il coute, Mr MAX- WELL must be turned out at the next election—and he will be. He has always been regarded as a plc-alter by the HAMILTON family. In order to strengthen himself, he has encouraged the hand loom weavers in the delusive belief that boards of trade would relieve their distress. He has feigned this conviction in the hope of gain- ing so many adherents among the village voters, as would enable him to defy the HAMILTON family, in the face of a strong Tory interest in the county of Lanark, to cast him off. He has en- couraged a suffering class to lean on a broken reed, in order to make them subservient to his own political aggrandizement. Eis conduct in regard to Lord JOIIN RUSSELL'S resolution is only a consistent portion of his selfish policy. If the county of Lanark again returns this man, it well deserve to be misrepresented and betrayed. There are occasions on which a real ought to be opposed to a pseudo Liberal, even at the hazard of allowing a Tory to slip in. Such an occasion is that afforded by the revelation of his true charaeter recently made by the Member for Lanarkshire. From the information we have received, we cannot doubt that the real Reformers of that county, if they exert themselves, are able to return a good man in defiance of the combined efforts of the Whig and Tory Aristocracy. Many in. stances have been pointed out to us in which Reformers have hung back from registering, simply because they bad no confidence in the only man who came forward on the Liberal side. These Reformers must now buckle on their armour, to oppose him whom they have so justly appreciated. Next in order comes the Member for Renfrewshire, Sir MICHAEL SHAW STEWART. In one respect he is better than Mr. MAXWELL: he went over to the enemy in the face of day : he did not attempt to juggle his constituents by declining to vote : to a certain extent, be was politically what Bailie Nicol Jarvie in another sense termed his Cateran cousin —" an honest rogue." Taken, however, "in the whole piece," as the linendmpers say, Sir MICHAEL is not one Whit a sounder man than his worthy cousin the Member for Lanark- shire. So decidedly was this the feeling of the county he repre- sents, that every exertion was made by the independent interest at the last election to get rid of him. He was returned solely be- cause three influential families, who are endeavouring by means of a family compact to divide the county of Renfrew among them, would not withdraw their nominee. The Reformers, seeing these aristocratical Whip obstinate, allowed their candidate to withdraw, in order to save the county from a Tory. They did this with considerable reluctance—not merely because they felt that it was a sacrifice of their independence, but because they knew that Sir MICHAEL was a slippery character. They remembered how he bad .coquetted with the Duke of WELLINGTON Up to the moment of his
Grace's leaving office in consequence of his No- Reform declaration. They remembered bow strongly Sir ROBERT PEEL expressed his sense
of the extent to which Sir MICHAEL had committed himself when he
gave in his adhesion to Earl GREY. They knew that political fsithlese- ness was "the badge of all the tribe ;" that one brother had accepted
office under Sir WILLIAM RAE; and that another canvassed Greenock in opposition to Mr. WALLACE, at the very time when Sir MICHAEL was claiming the suffrages of the Reformers in Renfrewshire. They saw, moreover, the visible reluctance with which Sir MicnAEL issued such a declaration as the times required. It was therefore most unwillingly that the Reformers of Renfrewshire swallowed this nau- seous dose ; and events have justified their repugnance to it. In the teeth of the most solemn pledges, he has gone over to the enemy. Next time there can be no hesitetion. Come what come may, he must
be opposed ; and if the parties to the family compact by standing out allow a Tory to get in, theirs will be the disgrace. But of this we are happy to think there is no danger. We learn from those who have anxiously scrutinized the registry of Renfrewshire, that beyond a doubt at the next election treachery will be punished, and the independence of the county established.
Of that eminently weak brother, Mr. ANDREW JOHNSTONE, we feel less inclined to speak, seeing that be is on the eve of receiving a very unequivocal remonstrance from his constituents. Had the Tory can- didate come to the poll at last election, Mr. JOHNSTONE would have
polled 120 votes in Cupar and 110 in St. Andrew's. A requisition * calling upon him to resign, in consequence of his vote on Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S motion, had early in the week received 89 signatures in Cupar, and a still larger number in St. Andrew's. This is creditable to the constituency, and has been most richly deserved by the Repre- sentative. He knows that the only subject upon which lie was mis- trusted was this very Church question. He knows that he was tied down upon it by promises which would have bound any trustworthy man. There are Protestant as well as Papist Jesuits. We congratu- late the St. Andrew's Burghs on the prospect of getting quit of a shuffling Pharisee—a pragmatical blender of sacred and civil affitirs, who has more than once deserted his post in Parliament to keep the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in order. Last, not least, comes GEORGE SINCLAIR, the rnisrepresenter of Caithness. On every one question during the present session on which the Liberals stood opposed to the upholders of the old rotten system, has this unfortunate man shrunk back from all his former professions. He has voted against the Liberal Speaker—he has voted in favour of the Tory address—he has voted against Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S motion. In acting thus, he has taken a Trost un- handsome advantage of the generosity of his constituents, who, moved by his pretended illness, reelected him without calling upon him to appear amongst them, and thus allowed him to escape unpledged. • Not contented with this unscrupulous use of over-confidence, he had the good taste on Thursday evening to volunteer his services as the trumpeter of Sir ROBERT PEEL. When we saw him after this match- less exhibition walking down Parliament Street with the Croker-rid Member for Westminster, we could not help saying, " Sure such a pair !" Can this d-devant Reformer sink lower ? Yes : he looks to secure his reelection for, Caithness by the aid of his former conscienti- ous opponents. The very parsons are busy canvassing for him. They have raised the cry of " the Church is in danger." They have dared. to do this in Presbyterian Scotland, because the bloated, anti-national, prelatical Church of Ireland has been threatened to be reduced within more rational limits. Should they succeed, how would their new protege look ?—supported by his old opponents, scouted by his old friends, recommended under false pretences by men whom he despises ! If Caithness would not be regarded as the last refuge of stupid bigotry, she must cast off Mr. GEORGE SINCLAIR. We address these considerations with no slight confidence to the constituencies of Scotland. The Reformers of that country have fought the battle of independence unflinchingly. They have shown, in general, that they can choose well : let them set us a no less impor- tant lesson, in punishing apostaey and desertion. They have before their judgment-seat four political culprits of as unmitigated criminality as ever were brought up for sentence.
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