CLOSE OF TIIE ELECTIONS.

Nowriumrroxsturta.—The resignation of Mr. Cartwright and Sir Charles Knightley took place on Saturday, or rather on Sunday ; and on Monday, Lords Althorp and Milton were declared duly elected. The final poll stood thus- Althorp 2,476 Milton 2,135 Cartwright ... 2,019 Knightley 1,423 Majority.... 457 712 There were, besides, no fewer than 344 undecided votes for the suc- cessful candidates before the assessor, and only 116 for their opponents ; thus adding to the declared majorities the probability of at least 180 or 200 more. The triumph, though long delayed, has therefore been any thing but incomplete.

In his address of thanks to the freeholders, Lord Althorp said— Grateful as he was for all the repeated and past favours. he had received at their hands, still, on this occasion, he had much more reason to be gratified than on any other occasion of the kind. He had presented himself before them on this occasion as a Minister of the Crown,—as one of those Ministers of the Crown who had introduced a measure for amending the representation of the people. That measure had been rejected by the late House of Commons, and against that decisicevau appeal had been made to the people ; "and how," continued the zsdhk Lord, "have the people decided that appeal ? Why, the people4lave stood by us—those Ministers of the Crown—in the most decisive; most unanimous manner. We have had the gratification of findi,V.enr;:-, ! views confirmed by the approbation of the people;—we, desii, to effect that which was beneficial to our country, have had the halikuless. to find our countrymen applauding our desires and sanctioning theinode ' in which we manifested those desires;—we have ascertained that iiiiqued„0 VW people have theaglit alike ; and we have experienced,

all Ministers actuated by such motives, and resolved upon measures for public good, will ever find—the firmest and the most noble support from the country."

In the ceremony of chairing the members, which followed, the Reve- rend Mr. Dundas, brothevin-law of Lord Milton, in the absence of the noble boy who was last week introduced to our acquaintance, acted as his substitute. In the evening, Mr. Fitzwilliam arrived. We have great plea. sure in quoting his reply on the health of Lord Milton being drunk. Talk of men of talent being fostered by the rotten boroughs I —dunghill flies,buz. zing and burrowing in the filth to which they owed their consequence I It is in the eyes of the public, and by open and honest means only, that real abilities are engendered or called forth. Fourteen years in the House of Commons as the mock-member for Mahon or Peterborough, would have done less to kindle the latent spark in this excellent young gentleman than fourteen days on the hustings of Northampton, amidst the heart- stirring of a free election, have done. Mr. Fitzwilliam said—" they had heard it stated by their opponents, that if this triumph were achieved, still they should not consider it as a very great one. He, however, took a very different estimate of the nature and the extent of the triumph which they were now met to celebrate. He did consider it as one of the very greatest triumphs that it was possible to gain, not because it was the triumph of persons who had or who had not solicited their suffrages, but because it was a triumph gained by principles that were rooted in their hearts, over powerful men who opposed, and thwarted, and spoke contemptuously of those principles. It was a triumph of free and inde- pendent yeomen over Tory despotism and a Tory aristocracy ; it was a triumph of liberality over narrowmindedness ; it was a triumph of freedom over usurpation ; it was a triumph of good sense and good feeling over bigotry and superstition. They had all heard the forces of their opponents Plagnified and arrayed in formidable and almost insuperable strength ; they had heard of the strength of the peerage, and of the great men of the country ; but when these gentlemen were calling over their muster-roll, they ought to have recollected that their opponents had on their side that which was sufficient to insure victory at any time—the strength of the people. That, and that alone—the strength of the people—had conquered in this hard-fought contest; the conquest had been achieved by the people, up, not in arms, but, as had been said in another place, in all the panoply of reason. This county, if not always attached to Tory principles, had at least, from tinie immemorial, allowed itself to be mainly acted upon by Tory principles ; and if it had sometimes had one Whig member, it had always had one Tory member; but the freeholders of Northamptonshire had now emancipated themselves from that thral- dom. Strong-rooted prejudices had been overcome ; listlessness had given place to energy and exertion; the good fight had been fought—and Northamptonshire was free."

Some foolish people have talked of danger to the House of Peers if the Reform Bill were once passed; let the House of Lords produce us such plants as these, and the people of England will deem all their pains too small to watch over and to protect them. The three short addresses of Lord Althorp, with which we conclude our account of this interesting struggle, and with it of the elections of England, so curiously contrast with all the received notions of Minis- terial speeches, and more especially the speeches of Finance Ministers, that, by way of marking the contrast, we place his Lordship's office ra- ther than his name before them.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that they had drunk the health of the King, the Queen, and the Royal Family, and he now had to propose to them that they should drink "The People." One advan- tage had at least resulted to the Tory gentlemen of the county from this contest—it had introduced those gentlemen to the people. They had heard enough upon the hustings to make them suspect that it had been a matter of surprise to those gentlemen that they had not found the peo- ple wild beasts, or at least savages. Sir C. Knightley had expressed his surprise that they could conduct themselves decently, and had actually seemed to think it very astonishing that he had not been insulted. If there was any one thing which could prove more than another the total ignorance in which the Tory gentlemen were with regard to the cha- racter of the people, it was, that a gentleman should publicly, and upon the hustings, have expressed his surprise that he had not been insulted or outraged in the course of a contested election. (Cheers and laughter.)

This is well, but what follows is infinitely better. The health of Mr. Fitzwilliam having been drunk,

The Chancellor of the Exchequer again rose, and said, that the next toast he had to propose applied directly to the cause in hand, —it was "A full, fair, and free representation of the people in Parliament." The constitution of this country was, or ought to be, composed of King, Lords, and Commons. Give to the King the prerogatives which were due to him, for those prerogatives were for the advantage of the people ; give to the House of Lords the privileges that were due to them, for an hereditary aristocracy respected in the country was necessary for the security of our institutions, and essential to the steady march of our Government ; but while we secured to the King his prerogatives, and while they secured to the House of Lords its privileges, let them not withhold from the people those privileges which of right and by the constitution belonged to the people. Let not the representation of the people be controlled or interfered with; and let it never be said, for it was sot true, that a full, free, and fair representation of the people was either dangerous to property or to any of our institutions. At- tempts had been made to defend the present system, by saying that the power of the Commons was so great, that it was expedient to infuse Into the Lower House a confusion of members, chosen by all kinds of different and conflicting modes, so as to unite there all interests. But what had been the effect of this upon the House of Commons, and upon the Government of the country? Why, it had had the effect of producing party, and faction, and selfish interests, where all men should be united for one interest and for one interest only,—the interest of the public. (Cheers.) Every man in that House now fought for himself, no man for his country. If they looked back upon the history of the House of Commons, they would find that for many years past there had been no Ministry of intrinsic strength, but that every Ministry bad depended upon faction for support, and necessarily so in the present constitution of the House. This evil could only be cured by giving to the people—who had no selfish or private views, who had and could have no object but the .general good—that which by the theory of the law they were supposed to have, but had not, in practice—the real and efficient control of their own representation. The measure which he and his colleagues had proposed would effect this. Some might think that this measure did not go far enough, and others might think it went too far. With regard to the latter—to those who said that the measure went too far—they were per- sons who in their hearts did not wish for any Reform at all ; they were persons who wished to stave off the evil day, as they thought it, when corruption should be at an end, and when the constitutional power of the House of Commons should enforce those measures in which they beheld the destruction of a system in which they were too much interested to part with easily. Some there were, who, be- fore this measure was introduced, were inclined to have gone farther, but who had now readily given their assent to this measure, and received it with satisfaction. He had always been a Reformer, and that to a very great extent ; and although he had been aware, as they all must be if they had consulted the debates upon Reform, that the Reformers differed among themselves, yet he had always entertained the opinion and the expectation that, whenever any reasonable proposition of Reform should be brought forward, all the real Reformers would unite in support of it. He had always been satisfied of this, though he certainly had not given them credit for that degree of excellent conduct which they had displayed upon this occasion. It was indeed a magnificent spectacle that a whole people—amongst whom many differences and shades of differences existed on this great question—should, when a measure was brought forward which they thought was reasonable and satisfiwtory generally, though it might not meet the particular views of any individtuil or party,—it was a magnificent spectacle, he said, that a whole people should come forward, and, laying aside individual and peculiar notions and prejudices, unite heart and hand in support of such a measure. This was a proof that the people would ever unite and co-operate in support of the welfare of the country." When we read these sentiments, and when we look to the commence.- ment and read the official title of him that utters them—the same offi. cial title that Addington and Vansittart and Goulburn have rendered so notable—we feel irresistibly inclined to rub our eyes and ask if we are really awake. But one extract more from the report of this interesting meeting. The Reverend Mr. Robinson, on his health being drunk, concluded by asking the noble Chairman to propose the" Liberty of the Press," for it was to that he attributed the liberties we enjoyed, and upon that alone could they confidently rely for the security of those liberties. The Chancellor of the Exchequer said, "that nothing could give him greater pleasure than to propose that toast. He was convinced that it was to the liberty of the press that we were indebted for every other liberty we enjoyed. It was the liberty of the press which had given to this country a degree of freedom greater than any other country enjoyed, notwithstanding the corruption of our Legislature. Englishmen were free, not by the con- stitution of their Parliament, but by preserving the liberty of the press, which had been productive of the happiest effects, as well moral as poli- tical, and which had been able to produce these effects because every man was amenable to it." The liberty of the press called for by the Church, toasted by the Cabinet I—Up caps in the air ! Reform Bill for ever, by nine times nine and nine cheers more ! The chains drop from our arms ! the stamp of bondage fades front our shoulders ! We're free, we're free !

DUBLIN ELECTION.—This protracted contest finished on Thursday sennight. The numbers on the gross poll were,

Harty 1943 Perrin 1935 Shaw 1568 Shaw 1562 Majority 375 373 The chairing took place on Friday ; when the successful candidates were borne round the city in great pomp, and amidst shouts such aa only Irishmen can raise. The chairing passed over peacefully ; but an unfortunate accident occurred in the evening, when a general illumina- tion was called for, and, with a very few exceptions, made. The mob having hurled a few stones at the windows of Mr. North, in Merrion. Square, a young man, a nephew of the member, named Armstrong, fired three or four times among the people, with swan shot, some of which hitting a poor woman on the face, have deprived her of the sight of an eye, besides otherwise injuring her. This zealous defender of darkness has been held to bail in very heavy recognizances for the offence. The firing seems to have been wholly unprovoked. The commander of the military stationed to protect the house, states that the force under his command was most ample for the purpose—that the crowd was neither numerous nor threatening—and that he stated these facts to Mr. Arm. strong, and requested him to desist from firing, but without effect.

LOUTH EtscrioN.—Mr. Sheil and Mr. Alexander Dawson have been elected without opposition ; Sir P. Bellew having retired, in de. ference to the superior claims of the former gentlemen. In this address of thanks, Mr. Sheil dwelt particularly on the proud station which he occupied as the freely-chosen representative of a large county, compared with that of the nominee of a borough lord. "Here, then, I stand," said the learned gentleman, "the member of Louth at last; and if I here feel that I am exalted to a nobler position, how much more proud a conseou.sness I must needs experience, when I shall stand on the floor of the British Senate, your, the people's, my country's representative ? Not the member for a close borough—not with the association of Mel. bourne Port about my name, and its iteration in my ear; but the mem. ber for that county which was foremost to break through the vassalage of the aristocracy, and which occupies so high a place in the annals of our national regeneration. Do you ask me what course I shall pursue ? Promises are easily made—I was going to add that they are easily broken. I should correct myself—you have bound me to my country by the liga- ments of gratitude and of honour, and thrown a chain about us which I can never sever. Trust me, I shall be true to you. I shall tell Eng- land your wants, and enforce your rights. I shall exhibit your red condition, and teach the British Parliament to beware how they force us to that of which the ocean is apt to put us in mind. They must be just to Ireland. If it be attempted to adopt a Gascoyne systeni of legisla- tion—(if I may create a phrase out of the gallant but discomfited Gene- ral)—if they should treat Ireland as a mere appendage, a poor appurte- nance to their empire, trust me, that however I may be disposed to sus- tain the greatness of that empire and its glory, I shall remember what is due to the land of my birth and of my affections, and give to my own SCOTCH ELECTIONS.-A degree of violence has been exhibit( d at seve-

ral of the county and burgh elections in the North, which stems ill to accord with the ordinary staid behaviour and prudent character of the Scotch. At Dunbarton and Ayr, the riots have been all but fatal. 'We take the accounts from an Ultra-Tory paper, it is true; and Ultra-Illibe- ral, but the editor is a gentleman; and though his account may be tinged by the prejudices of his correspondents, he is, we sincerely I elieve, in- capable himself of giving it a false colouring. Besides, the facts are so numerous and circumstantial, that the narrative may be said to carry its

own proof along with it.

When the numbers were announced—for Lord William 23, for Mr. We gave last week a specimen of Mr. North's oratory, which our Colquhoun 23—the rage of the mob, which had up to that time been contemporary the Standard had so zealously cried up ; and as a contrast .vented in words, began to manifest itself in act. No sooner did a friend to the Hibernicism of that honourable gentleman, we gave a quotation of the successful candidate make his appearance at the door of the from the speech of Lord Milton's son, by way of showing how an Eng- court-house, than he was hustled and pelted in the most furious man- lish boy could talk, at the same time that we exhibited a talking Irish ner. Seven or eight of the least unpopular escaped even under these man. The Scotch papers received during the week, furnish us with some difficulties; but the rest, with Lord William, remained shut up and samples of Scotch eloquence, of which, to exhibit an impartial picture of besieged without hope of escape or rescue. At length a signal was made the three kingdoms, we must, in common fairness, extract a portion. to the garrison at Dunbarton Castle, and a troop of cavalry, which had We gave last week, from a correspondent, an account of an attempt to been kept in readiness within a mile or two of the town, was ordered to ad- get up an Anti-Bill meeting in Forfarshire, and the total rout of its sup- Vance and disperse the rioters. At the moment that the order was given, porters by the friends of Mr. Maule of Parunure, and that excellent Admiral Fleming and some others of Mr. Colquhoun's friends joined nobleman, Lord Duncan. This week the Dundee Advertiser brings us the trembling Anti-Reformers, and promising their protection to Lord a report at large of the whole proceedings. The number of gentlemen William, prevailed on the Sheriff to revoke his orders. They had, how- who addressed the meeting on the one side and the other were not few. ever, calculated too confidently on the abstinence of the mob ; for no We pass by the Anti-Reformers, fie- the best of all reasons : the honour- sooner did his Lordship make his appearance, than he was set upon and able mover of the resolutions said they would speak for themselves, a cir-

was waiting at the Quay to convey them from the town,—a dozen of stout fellows, ship-carpenters, were procured, and under their guidance

the hunted nobleman left his hole, and made another desperate effort to able Mr. Haliburton spoke well and to the point ; but lords and lords' escape : he was again compelled to run for safety, and fortunately found

it in the Bank ; by a back door of which he reached the river, and a extract from the address of a simple commoner, one of Nature's honour- boat, which conveyed him on board the steam-vessel, at a moment when

all hopes of his escape, without the interference of the military, had been abandoned. His Lordship was several times struck with stones, and the skirts of his coat suffered considerable damage; bat he did not sustain whose "Auld lang syne " has become proverbial on the South es

any serious injury, well as on the North of the Tweed.* It had been objected to the Scotch Dunbartonshire election was bad enough in all conscience, but that of Bill (for it is the particular rather than the general measure which our

Ayr was a great deal worse. The election for that county took place on brother Reformers of the North are called on to advocate), that it went the 18th; and Colonel Blair, the Anti-Reform candidate, was elected by to destroy the political constitution of Scotland—yes, "the political con- _ a majority of 37. A riot had been anticipated, and two troops of cavalry stitution of Scotland !" Mr. Burnes gave this objection its quieter. were stationed within a few miles of the town. When the state of the " In the last Parliament of Scotland," he observed, "there sat 153 votes was announced, the mob beset every avenue, front and rear, of the peers, 94 representatives for shires, and 66 burgesses. Alas ! the hills,. court-house ; and Colonel Blair and his friends had no other method of ence of English gold reduced the noble representation to the paltry num- escape left, but by hoisting the agreed-on signal for the military to ad- her of 16—the knights of shires to 30—and, tying up the boroughs inte Vance to their assistance. The mob did not retire even on the advance bunches of fives, they were cast out from the Parliament-house, but of the military ; but, notwithstanding the application of the flats of their endowed with the magnificent privilege of hatching the fifth part of a sabres (for the men most humanely abstained from using the edge), representative each at stated intervals thereafter. He might truly say, pretty vigorously to the shoulders of the most active, continued to pelt therefore, that, at the Union, the constitution of Scotland was arranged and hoot both them and their protegees-most vigorously. The area be- pretty much after the manner in which a gentleman arranges his candle fore the court-room being at length cleared, the troops formed a hollow when he goes to bed—that is to say, an extinguisher was clapped upon it; square ; and the scared voters, with Colonel Blair at their head, being and, from that time downwards, Scotland had never possessed any thing ex- received into the interior of it, they marched down to the pier-head, titled to the name of a political representative constitution. It was neces- where the Large steam-vessel lay ready for their reception : for at Ayr, sary, therefore, to go farther back than the periods assigned by the as at Dunbarton, the land offered no shelter on which the Anti-Reform- ers dared to. rely. When the electors had got on board, the military left honourable gentlemen to ascertain the constitution which Scotland once them ; .a circumstance which the mob were not slow to take advantage possessed. The earliest traces of this were to be found in the Parliamento of, for in an instant the deck of the vessel was swept as by a shower of of 1315 and 1318, which settled the crown of Scotland in the Royal line grape.. The poor steersman, who alone remained, was frequently struck of the victorious Bruce. The records of another Parliament held at by the stones that fell thick around him ; and he was compelled to cut Scone in 1326 are extant, on which occasion a tenth of the revenues of the hawser that bound the vessel to the shore, in order to remove more the kingdom were granted to Robert Bruce for the maintenance Speedily out of danger. The Lord Justice Clerk (Boyle), whom his zeal al as voted to him. and the Bill had induced to abandon his judicial In this Parliament appeared not only the King, the earls, the barons, against the Ministers was procured, and burgesses, but also the free tenants, duties in order to support the Anti-Reform candidate, alone remained in ts, as well within liberties as with- duties in and, escorted by a few of the troops, his Lordship got safely away. The * William Burnes. the poet's father, wrote his name with an e, as the Burnes• Montrose still do. Robert was the first of the Ayrshire branch that dropped it. dear country a paramount interest in my heart." We mid wish that mob afterwards broke the windows of such of the voters as resided ia the IIIr. Shell- had spared the allusion to the Repeal ; but we suppose it to neighbourhood ; nor did the rioting wholly cease till the night was far be a ruled case, that in addressing an Irish assembly, a man must infuse advanced. The disasters of the Anti-Reform party were not yet over.. a little nonsense into his harangue, to make it generally acceptable. A steam-vessel, which left Ayr about half an hour before, anima/toed

their approach at Ardrossan, where the party halted to dine; and they were received on their landiiii.t. with hissings and hootings and pelting, if not so hard, at least as hearty as had marked their running away. 4 Mr. Lade, a person in a very bad state of health, had been foolishly induce& to proceed to Ayr, to vote for Colonel Blair ; and from the heat and excitement and terror operating On an enfeebled constitution, he died oss.

the passage from Ayr to Arrossan. " Our dinner," says a letter, " was da strange one : in the anti-room lay the corpse of the deceased elector; not a single man sat down to table that had not suffered snore or less int the fray, and there was scarce an unbroken head or an uncut face in thz whole comrany ! "

The election of a member for Dunbarton took place on Tuesday At the Roxburgh election, which also took place on the 13th, every sennight. Lord Montague William Graham (the late member), and preparation which the most zealous caution could suggest was adopted to IVIr. J. C. Colquhoun, were the candidates. The freeholders began to prevent any interference with the freedom of election. No fewer than assemble about noon ; and simultaneously with the assembling of the five hundred special constables were sworn in on the occasion. About a freeholders, numerous bands of the people entered the little town with thousand Reformers from the neighbouring town of Hawick marched to flags and devices,—who cheered vociferously the friends of Mr. Coign- Jedburgh, with banners and music ; but their expression of dislike to the boun, and hissed and hooted with equal heartiness those of Lord Wil- Anti-Reform candidate was confined to hissing. No riot, nor any thing liam. The freeholders of Scotland are regularly enrolled ; and the first approaching to it, occurred. The Reformers from a distance had adopted operation in all election meetings is to purge, as it is termed, the roll— a wise resolution not to partake of any spirits or ale in the town, nor that is, to strike off all such persons as have ceased to be freeholders indeed of refreshment of any kind, until they were once more fairly oa during the past year, and to add such as have become freeholders. The the road homeward. We must not omit one trait of Border courtesy, trial of strength between the two parties is as often made in these addi- which speaks as highly for the soundness of these men's hearts as their tions to the roll as in any other form ; and many elections are madelto prudent resolve does for the clearness of their heads. Sir Walter Scott depend on a false majority, in consequence of freeholders being denied was at the election, and voted of course for the Anti-Reform candidate; registration who are afterwards found legally entitled to it. It is unne- but so highly did the Reformers respect the genius of the venerable bard, cessary to say, that unless by petition to the House of Commons, no that, despite his politics, they greeted his approach with one unanimous change is wrought in the position of the member, though the law-courts cheer. Sir Walter, we may observe, has been lately stretched on his should decide that he was in reality elected by a minority of the freehold- bed, by some of our contemporaries, with a pertinacity of purpose, which, ers. Well, the Dunbartonshire roll having been purged, the voting had any thing serious happened, might have brought them to the bar as proceeded, amidst a din to which that of Babel was melodious. Before accessories. Some weeks ago we were led, by bond lide letters from Edits.- it was half finished, a parcel of carpenters, forming a battering-ram of a burgh, to believe that the Great Magician was seriously ill ; and our trunk of tree, burst open the lower doors of the court-house, and rushed brethren, long after we corrected the exaggeration, thought fit to follow up stairs ; the flags of tile crowd were handed sip to the windows, and our example, but overdoing it, according to the custom of imitators. Sir waved over the heads of the freeholders ; and for some time it was Walter on the 18th looked thin, in consequence of the sore "shake" doubtful whether the business of the day would not be wholly prevented. which he has experienced, but hale and hearty notwithstanding. We At length some degree of calm was obtained ; the flags made their exit by hope he may enjoy a score of summers, and live to confess that the Re.. thesame way as they had made their entrance, and the election finished. formers were right after all. When the numbers were announced—for Lord William 23, for Mr. We gave last week a specimen of Mr. North's oratory, which our Colquhoun 23—the rage of the mob, which had up to that time been contemporary the Standard had so zealously cried up ; and as a contrast .vented in words, began to manifest itself in act. No sooner did a friend to the Hibernicism of that honourable gentleman, we gave a quotation of the successful candidate make his appearance at the door of the from the speech of Lord Milton's son, by way of showing how an Eng- court-house, than he was hustled and pelted in the most furious man- lish boy could talk, at the same time that we exhibited a talking Irish ner. Seven or eight of the least unpopular escaped even under these man. The Scotch papers received during the week, furnish us with some difficulties; but the rest, with Lord William, remained shut up and samples of Scotch eloquence, of which, to exhibit an impartial picture of besieged without hope of escape or rescue. At length a signal was made the three kingdoms, we must, in common fairness, extract a portion. to the garrison at Dunbarton Castle, and a troop of cavalry, which had We gave last week, from a correspondent, an account of an attempt to been kept in readiness within a mile or two of the town, was ordered to ad- get up an Anti-Bill meeting in Forfarshire, and the total rout of its sup- Vance and disperse the rioters. At the moment that the order was given, porters by the friends of Mr. Maule of Parunure, and that excellent Admiral Fleming and some others of Mr. Colquhoun's friends joined nobleman, Lord Duncan. This week the Dundee Advertiser brings us the trembling Anti-Reformers, and promising their protection to Lord a report at large of the whole proceedings. The number of gentlemen William, prevailed on the Sheriff to revoke his orders. They had, how- who addressed the meeting on the one side and the other were not few. ever, calculated too confidently on the abstinence of the mob ; for no We pass by the Anti-Reformers, fie- the best of all reasons : the honour- sooner did his Lordship make his appearance, than he was set upon and able mover of the resolutions said they would speak for themselves, a cir-

taste which we cannot altogether commend, the resolutions were drawn up), is not reported ; and besides, he declared himself a Reformer: " We are all Reformers !"---Well done, Jamie L'Amy ! The Honour- sons are of no country. We shall therefore take, by preference, our

ables. The following is from the speech of Mr. Burnes, at one time Chief Magistrate of Montrose ; a gentleman who has an additional claim

on our attention, from his being a near relative of the celebrated poet of hi state, or, as in modern phraseology, a civil list w Roy court-room. After some delay, a carriage and four out, of the King and other lords thin the realm, and these whether

principal or sub-vassals, of Whatsoever rank or condition. Though this -appeared to have been the ancient constitution of Scotland, it was not likely that the gentlemen on the other side would feel inclined to refer to it—it too much resembled annual Parliaments and universal suffrage. In the hands of the unhappy Stuarts, the basis of that constitution was progressively narrowed by successise limitations of the elective franchise and other unwarrantable interferences, till the constitution itself became like an inverted pyramid, fell to pieces, and crushed the unfortunate family in its ruins. Bat why rake in the charnsd-house of Scottish history for precedents to guide us on the prusent occasion, when every one admits that the national crisis is unparalleled ? The only question which one plain straightforward man would ask ;mother was this, Is the present re- presentation of the Se,trisdf piople in Parliament fairly adapted to the po- pulation, Mources, and intelligence of tIte nation g He would indeed be a bold man that averred the affirmative. What then should be done ? Reform what is defective, and infuse new vigour into the constitution. The supporters of the resolutions avow themselves to be in favour of Re-

form—moderate, wise, prudent, cautious Reform. These were the cant .phrases used by Pitt fifty years ago, and by his disciples after him ; and it is well known what progress Reffirm made under their auspices. Pitt -declared himself a Reformer to the last ; but the time never arrived when his moderate, wise, prudent, cautious reform could be safely granted. The people, now fully aware of their rights, are no longer to be gulled by flimsy and unmeaning pretences. The King and his Minis- ters, justly appreciating the people's claims, sanction the bill brought into the late Parliament for Reform. Mr. Burnes was no blind admirer of that Bill. With some of its detaihs and especially those relating to borough representation, some fitult might justly be found ; but, on read- ing the preamble of the Bill, and especially the noble declaration, ' that

the property and in of Scotland ought to be represented in the Le- gislature,' he was content to accept of this broad admission of principle, and, disregarding details, to look on the Bill with the same feelings of indulgence as the poet did his mistress- ' Though to its shore some trivial errors fall, Read the preamble—you'll forget them all.'

"In framing the Reform Bill, his Majesty's advisers seem to have taken their stand upon that narrow isthmus of the constitution which had not been washed away by the waves of corruption ; and while with the one hand they repelled oligarchic domination, with the other they repressed _rabble violence. The Reform Bill was admirable in two points of view —it injured no one whose rights ought to be preserved, and it extended rights to many from whom they had been too long unjustly withheld. * The Bill injured none of the freeholders who were pro- prietors of land, though it did injure another species of freeholder—the parchment freeholder. Though parchment votes were legal votes, the dealers in them should have known that they were brittle ware. They should have known that similar votes were abolished in England a cen- tury ago ; and that, from their utter worthlessness, they would become the first victims of improvement in the representation. * * * * Who will be benefited by the Reform Bill ? The Scottish nobleman will be benefited, by the removal of the existing disability of his eldest son to . sit in Parliament. The freeholder will no longer succeed to his estate

-with superiorities alienated for party purposes, leaving a defective and divided title to his land. Short as this enumeration was, it contained all who enjoy the elective franchise. But was there none else whom a just government and a liberal legislator would admit to a share in the elective franchise ? There was the neglected, despised, and hitherto politically degraded people of Scotland, in whose behalf, as one of the number, he would take leave to say a few words. The two classes which it was pro- posed by the Bill to exalt to the constituency, were leaseholders of a cer- tain annual amount, and 10/. freeholders. He would appeal to the noble Chairman (the Earl of Airly) and the assembled aristocracy of Forfar-

.shire, whether there existed a more respectable, intelligent, and indus- trious class of men than the farmers of Scotland, and especially the farmers of this county ? One complaint invariably preferred by the op- ponents of Reform was, that it would lessen the legitimate and whole- some influence of the agricultural interests. Flow could it do so ? The interests of the landlord and tenant in the sale of corn must be identical; and therefore it was with no small surprise that he heard the introduc- tion of the latter class of voters condemned in the resolutions ; for un- doubtedly, if the 10/. or village constituency were permitted, the lease- holders would be required to preserve the equilibrium. Were foreign inva- sion threatened, or domestic broils anticipated, on whom would the pro- prietary of Scotland rely for support but the farmers ? It was not enough to say, that in return for services they got protection, forso does the Con- tinental despot protect his serfs. Raise them to the rank of freemen by admitting them to the constituency, and the country will not only com- snand their swords, but their hands and their hearts. On the subject of the 10/. constituency, he would frankly acknowledge that he dissented from the provisions of the Bill as brought into Parliament. Wherever that vote depended on a patch of ground and a small cottage—on a qualification purely rural—a better class of voters could not be found ; but where the vote arose from a house in the purlieus of a town, he felt that he would like to see the amount of the qualification raised. But it ought not to be forgotten, that Ministers had declared, that in many places this qualification could not be safely raised to a higher amount without greatly narrowing the constituency, which it was the primary . object of the Reform measure to extend. The Lord Advocate, in illus- trating this point, had eloquently observed, that this class of the consti- tuency, being chiefly composed of individuals who, by frugality and un- wearied industry, had amassed a small competency sufficient to entitle him to a 10/. vote, would become an adamantine barrier to protect in- violate the institutions of the country and the properties of the higher • orders; that every such voter haying but lately lighted his little taper of independence, would guard it sedulously, because he knew that the first—breath of public commotion would extinguish it for ever."