29 DECEMBER 1832, Page 3

BRISTOL. - The Mercury of the 15th instant gives a print of

a "bri- bery-box" that has been freely resorted to on the occasion of the late election, and adds the following note- "At a house, No. 8, in King Street, the parlour-window was darkened by the shutters within having been closed, with the exception of the lower row of panes in the centre ; these were whitened over, except one, which had been re- moved, and a sliding panel put in its place. At this panel, the Blue voter after he haul polled tapped, and on its being raised sufficiently high to admit his hand, he thrust in his election scrip, properly authenticated, and received in re- turn a check, containing the name of an individual on whom he was to call for the price of his degradation; and this was practised in the open street, in the face of a crowd, throughout the whole of Thursday."

This is pretty well. We hope some of these scrips and checks are forthcoming.

CAMBRIDGESIIIRE.-The combined influence of the Duke of Rut- land, Lord Hardwicke, the Bishop of Ely, and the University, have seated Colonel Yorke for this county; and it required the most pro- fuse expenditure of money, and the most tyrannous exertion of power,

to accomplish it. His election cost him 5,000/. ; that of Townley and Childers about 4001. One instance of aristocratic tyranny will suffice. At the late contest between Yorke and Townley, many of the market gardeners who supply Newmarket, voted for the latter. All the trades- men in the town received orders from Chevely to deal no more with these village patriots; nay, the very jockies were forbidden, on pain of the Duke's displeasure, to buy a cabbage or a potato of them. Thanks to his Grace for his potent and well-directed endeavours to give us the Ballot.

CHESHIRE, SOUTIL-The .50/. clause seems everywhere complained of, by successful and unsuccessful candidates alike. Mr. Wilbraham thus spoke of it on the day of the:announcement of the members-

It would be admitted on all hands that the Reform Bill had worked well- that is, the mechanical part of it ; but there was one part of it which had not worked well, and which required alteration-he meant the system under which. tenants voted. The object of the late change in the state of the representation was, not that property only should be represented, hut to endeavour to collect into tune general focus the opinions ail variety of men of different circumstances. If property alone were to be represented, lie would rather give each landlord his forty, f fey, or sixty votes, according to the amount of his property and the extent of his estates, than to see, as he did on this occasion, intelligent men driven to the poll like sheep to the slaughter,-mere automata, to record, not their own opinions, but the opinions of others. DENDIGHSHIRE.-We stated a few weeks ago that Denbighshire would send up a Reform member ; and we are now able to confirm it; Mr. Biddulph of Chirk Castle having been returned on the 24th, by a majority of 219 over the Honourable Lloyd Kenyon, the Tory candi- date. This Ultra-Conservative, and his small knot of supporters re- ceived such a castigation on the day of nomination at the hands of? the Reformers, as will make them pause before they again enter the lists with them. Never did any set of gentlemen appear so disgraced as they did by the exposure of their corrupt and unconstitutional influence, and by their refusal to pledge themselves not to exert it any longer, but allow their tenantry to exercise their own free choice without fear of future molestation. The struggle has been an animated, if not a severe one; as the Liberal party have had to contend against a powerful com- bination of the Aristocracy of the county, who have been indefatigable, both personally and through their agents and by promises and &eats among their tenantry and tradesmen, in ;heir efforts to support their expiring cause. It so happened, that many of their tenants had pro- mised the friends of Reform before they had had any intimation front their landlords ; and when they were subsequently canvassed for Mr. Biddulph, their frequent answer was, " True, we did promise, and our hearts are still with you; but we have now received orders to vote for Kenyon, and are threatened with distresses and notices to quit if we persist in following our own inclinations." A pretty comment this ort the value of the clause giving votes to the .50/. tenantry. Can these Aristocrats be still so blind as to think they are serving their cause by thus violating the spirit of the Constitution and the law, trampling oit the feelings and consciences of their dependents, and destroying that respect and deference which would always be paid if they acted the ho- nourable part towards them? Far from this, they will soon find they are taking the surest steps either to rescind that clause or to bring about the Ballot. One pleasing feature in the Denbighshire election deserves to be noticed, because it will tend to allay the fears of some timid though sincere objectors to the Reform Bill. Many of the col- liers and miners are forty-shilling freeholders, in right of long posses- sion of enclosures from the waste; and others of them have been, as they conceive, unjustly prevented from becoming such, by the decision of the Revising Barrister. It was feared that these would create riots p.t the polling-booths ; but nothing of the kind has taken place, the order and peaceable demeanour of these men during the whole of the election being most exemplary. This has greatly enhanced the triumph, and deprived the opponents of Reform of one of their objections. We have the best authority for believing that many of these poor men have acquired very competent notions of the nature and bearings of the Re- form question, and show great acuteness in reasoning as to the cause of the bountiful supplies of ale, and the obsequious visits they have lately received from the Tory candidate and his friends. They are of late years much improved, both in character and manners, by the progress of education.-From a Correspondent.

DURHAM, SOL:TU.-The poll concluded on Friday. Joseph Pease has not only been returned, in the teeth of the Whig and Tory Aris- tocracy and the Church, but he has been placed at the head of the poll. The county of Durham sends ten members to Parliament, and they are all Reformers. The return of one of the Society of Friends opens a curious question on the subject of the oaths to be taken, out of the House and in it. In all civil causes, the affirmation of one of the So- ciety is equivalent to an oath ; but we are not aware how the law stands in respect of oaths taken as qualifications for office. If the House can dispense with the formality, it certainly ought to do so. The Society of Friends, it seems, are not friendly to the return of their brother this does not indicate so much Common sense as their acts and opinions on civil matters usually do. How are they to influence effectually the machine of Government, unless they take a share in the direction of its movements ?

ESSEX, Nowlin-The polling closed on Saturday evening ; when it appeared that Mr. A. Baring and Sir J. Tyrell were considerably in advance of Mr. Western ; the two Conservatives are therefore the members for the division. Mr. 1Vestern addressed the electors at some length on the occasion. We quote one sentence respecting a clause for which Mr. Western is in great part answerable, and which has proved, as was meet it should, the cause of his rejection- Other circumstances there Well. which lie might mention (A voice in the crowd, "tic 501. ciausc.-) "Ay," said Mr. %Vestry], "the 501. clause. That is not the first time I have been told that the 50l. elan, would finish my career as a county member. I do earnestly hope that will net prove the (USN I struggled hard to carry that clause, be- cause I felt that upon the priuciple of the Bill itself, as well as upon es ery principle of justice, it was due to the. occupiers or the soil, whether under lease or net. I did helievo that they would feel their character and station exalted by the possession of the eloc.. tire franchise ; and that they w eu i,i exemte the duty which belonged to that franchise as conscientiously and disinterestedly as any other classes of society. I did believe that they were of too much value to their landlords to be interfered with by them ; and I did hope their landlords would have too nmeli honour to attempt it. I shall, inured, be grieved if I find that those persuus Who have been, I may say, called into existence, in some degree-, at all events, through my instramentality, should prove to be the persons who-have in overwhelndug numbers raised their voices against me,"

We look upon it as the duty of the public, when a member is once fairly elected, to do by him in some degree as they are bound to do by a law when once passed—not mqrely to bear with him, but to support him as far as he may be reasonably supported. We shall not therefore declaim against the return of Mr. Baring, though he be a Conservative, nor against Sir John TyreII, though he be not the brightest knight that has flourished in England since the days of Sir Isaac Newton. Mr. Baring is sadly defective in the constructive bump ; be is far bet- ter fitted, notwithstanding the party he belongs to, for pulling down than building up—in his genius at least he is a complete Destructive. We don't, however, find fault with him for that ; we rather like him the better. Ministers will require looking after. All men in power do. We must not consider the present men as an exception. Indeed, from the number of their supporters, they must be more than men if they were. Our only apprehension is, that Mr. Baring, and the party of which he is a leader, may go along with the Ministers where the latter are disposed to go against the People, and only oppose them when they are aiming at liberal measures,—that, in fact, they will not act as a Party Opposition. At the same time, we must confess that experience is in favour of thelatter hypothesis.

ESSEX, SOUTH.—A great deal has been said about political parsons during the late elections. The Times, after rating the Conservative clergy of Essex, gives the following anecdote of a Liberal clergyman- " We have the name of one gentleman, the Reverend Mr. Jee, Vicar of Thax- ted, whose influence over his parishioners was liberally exercised in helping them

to resist the threats of the Conservatives and the still more formidable 'breeches- pocket' of Mr. Baring. From the parish under the care of this reforming pas- tor, 80 voters polled at Saffron Walden for Messrs. Western and Brand, without putting the candidates to a single shilling of expense. There was not a pressed, a bribed, or unwilling vote among them. The Reverend Vicar rude into the above-mentioned polling-town on Friday last, at the head of 200 good and true Reform electors,-70 of his own parish, and the remainder neighbours and friends."

Now, with every submission to our contemporary, we really think that the feat of Mr. Jee was not a whit more in accordance with the sacredness of his official character, than if its object had been to assist Mr. Baring. If he had done as he ought to have done, he would have staid at home, and let his parishioners go to the poll under secular guidance.

MaNenEsvEn.—Mr. Poulett Thomson has stated his intention of sitting for Manchester.

MIDDLESEX.—A great many electors and friends accompanied Mr. Hume to Brentford on Monday, in order to witness the ceremony of the declaration. He was received on his arrival with very loud and continued cheering. Mr. Byng was hissed. Sir John Scott Lillie was greatly applauded. Sir Charles Forbes took his place on the hustings without being noticed. Mr. Hume spoke for nearly two hours. He alluded, in the conclusion of his address, to the legacy-duty, which he said he hoped soon to see abolished. Would it not be better policy to extend it to de- vises of real property ? The legacy-duty is one which no man grudges paying. Mr. Byngattempted to speak, but the people would not hear him. Sir Charles. Forbes spoke at some length, and by perseverance contrived to gain in some degree the ears of the audience- " You may call me," said Sir Charles, " an Anti-Reformer, a Conservative —any thing you please but a Whig or a Ratli.:al. I mean, by the word Whig, the Whigs of the present day. In that, however, I must make one exception, and that exception is, your worthy and long .tried representative, Mr. /3yhg. He is a Whig of the right sort. • He is consistent, and stands by the principles with which he set out in life, and will stand by them as long as he is your re- presentative. I am sorry that lie should have met with such a reception as he has met with from you to-day- I feel that much more than your treatment of myself; fer, to tell you the truth, I fully expected in what manner you would re.• ceive nie on the present occasion. (Laughter, and 'How could you 'laic been mistaken ?') I am not accustomed to measure my language to suit men of any part. I regard only the measures, and not the men. My conduct in Parliament has been always guided by the principles in which I have stood firm to be your representative. I have been told, at least it has been hinted, that I have been guilty of corruption in procuring votes. I deny the assertion. It was un- worthy of the man that made it : knowing him as I have done so many years. I understand that on a former evening Mr. Hume alluded very facetiously to this subject.. . He stated that I had -been ill—confined to my bed and bled ; meaning by that, that my pocket had been drawn upon. I deny it in foto. They think I have spent a great deal of money ; but they are mistaken. It is true I have not withheld what has been necessary and legal to defray the charges incurred on my part at this election ; and the only difference between Mr. 'flume and myself on this point is, that he has bled others, and I have bled myself. (Laughter.) I have come forward, heart and purse, for the purpose of saving may country from the impending destruction which threatens it—to save it from the destruction which has been threatened to it by such men as Mr. Hume. All that remains of our religion or liberties I consider to be threatened by Mr. Hume."

Sir John Lillie afterwards explained, that the words about bleeding, of Which Sir Charles complained, were really used in reference. to Sir Charles's reported illness, and had no reference, as he assumed they had, to his pocket. •

Sir Charles Forbes described Mr. Byng as a Whig of the right sort. It appears he was not altogether disinterested in so describing him. The following is a copy of a circular sent round by two of Mr. Byng's friends—the Chairman of his Committee and another. It seems to have been meant in the first instance for Mr. Read solely; Mr. Carpenter signed it in order to show the quarter from which it emanated. " Angel Inn. High Street, Islington, December 18. "Sir—Feeling much interest in the success of Sir Charles Forbes in the ensuing elec- tion for Hs: county of Middlesex. I h■,„a to introduce the subject to you, and to ask your assistance and co-operation. I should feel obliged if you would let me know if Sir Charles may hope for your support, by midressing a line to me at the Committee-room. " I remain, Sir, your faithful humble servant, T. R. READ.

R. CARPENTER." •

We said last week that the facts of this contest might not soon transpire, but we were mistaken ; they are coming out already. Mr. Byng is indeed a Whig of the right sort, and his supporters are like unto him.