2 MAY 1846, Page 8

SCOTLAND.

The representation of the Falkirk district of Boroughs is contested by Lord Lincoln, the Secretary for Ireland, and Mr. Wilson, a gentleman con- nected with the locality. The circumstances out of which the contest has arisen are peculiar. Some months ago, the Liberal electors, in the antici- pation of a general election, had addressed a requisition to Mr. Wilson, re- questing him to come forward as a candidate; and he consented. At this time no idea was entertained that Mr. Baird, the sitting Member, was to resign his seat. According to Lord Lincoln's statement, he knew nothing of Mr. Baird personally, or of his intention to retire, till he received a letter from a gentleman in London addressed to him in Dublin, asking if he would be willing to come forward and take Mr. Baird's place. Upon this Lord Lincoln madeinquiry as to the probability of his being acceptable to the constituency, and then agreed to offer himself; issuing an address, on the 22d April, in which he solicited support for public reasons alone. It would appear from Mr. Wilson's statement, that previous to Mr. Baird'e resignation, the friends of Lord Lincoln had waited upon him and asked if he would waive his claim to the representation in favour of Lord Lincoln in the event of Mr. Baird's creating a vacancy. Mr. Wilson at once con- sented, in so far as he was personally concerned; but stated that those who had addressed him previously should be consulted. Mr. Wilson accord- ingly consulted the parties who had signed the requisition to him in the several boroughs; and the majority of them agreed to allow him to waive his claim; but on condition that Lord Lincoln should give a written pledge not to come forward when a general election took place, as it was their in- tention to give their suffrages to a candidate whose principles of general politics were more in accordance with their own. This condition Mr. Wilson communicated to Lord Lincoln; and his Lordship at once stated that he could not comply with it, believing it to be an improper restraint. Mr. Wilson asked him to think over the thing; and he subsequently re- ceived a written communication from Lord Lincoln declining to come under the obligation. Both parties then took the field.

At the nomination, which took place on Wednesday, at Falkirk, both candidates harangued the electors from the hustings.

Lord Lincoln stated, that when he agreed to offer himself to the electors, he had no knowledge of the requisition which had been sent some time ago to his opponent, Mr. Wilson, else he would not have come forward. As to the pledge required, his objection was that it would impose a condition on the constituency which was unconstitutional, inasmuch as it would prevent them, if they should be pleased with the manner in which he discharged his duties, from again asking him to come forward at a general election; which, however, he had no intention. of doing. Proceeding from personal to more general topics, he warned the elect= against playing into the hands of the Protectionists by rejecting him; reminding them of the shout of triumph which was set up by the Protectionists on the occasion of his defeat in South Nottingham, and of the defeat of Captain Rolls at West- minster. Would it be wise for the electors of the Falkirk district of Boroughs to- reject a member of the Government, thus destroying the moral effect which must attend the reelection of a member of the Cabinet ass representative in the House of Commons at the present moment? If the result of the election should turn out to be that Mr. Wilson was returned, however much the Free-traders of Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, and other places, at other times might rejoice, on this occasion they would deeply regret it. He was confident that in these great made of commerce there would be lamentation and regret. He was equally certain that it would be the cause of joy and exultation in No. 17 New Bond Street. Mr. Wilson said he was glad to hear from Lord Lincoln, what his Lordship had just stated, that he had now no intention to offer himself again as a candi- date for those burghs. [Lord Lincoln—"! said so throughout:'] He wished his Lordship had told to him, when he applied to him, what he had now stated: he would have felt it to be his duty to have communicated it to the constituency; and he would almost take upon himself to say that they would have modified the written pledge, and allowed the field to be left open for Lord Lincoln. In politics. Mr. Wilson declared himself a Free-trader of some standing, a supporter of civil and religious liberty, an opponent of the "curfew" clauses in the Irish Coercion Bill, and willing to extend the franchise. The show of hands was greatly in favour of Mr. Wilson. A poll WAS demanded; to take place on Friday.

At a meeting of the Glasgow Town-Council, on Thursday, the Lord Provost proposed that an address should be sent to the King of the French,

congratulating him on his preservation from the late attempt on his life. The proposal was cordially approved of by the Council. A similar address, as we learn from the London papers received on Thursday, has been voted by the Court of Aldermen in the Metropolis. Of course, the Lord Provost could not be aware of this circumstance when he brought the proposal before the Council, which he did simply from a sense of its propriety and suitableness. The example thus set by the first city of the empire, and spontaneously by the second in point of population and commercial enter- prise, will doubtless be followed by other cities and towns.—Scottish Guardian.

The Town-Council of Edinburgh agreed to a congratulatory address to Louis Philippe on Tuesday.

We understand that the late Captain Hamilton, Port-Glasgow, has bequeathed the munificent sum of 20,000/. to be divided between the sus- tentation fund and the various missionary schemes of the Free Church.— Renfrewshire Advertiser.

- The Directors of the Glasgow Commercial College have elected Mr. Richard Horner Mills, MA., of Dublin, to the Professorship of Political Economy.

Sommerville, a policeman on the Caledonian Railway, has been killed near Lockerbie, by a number of "navvies," with circumstances of great atrocity. On Saturday night, the monthly payment of the labourers on that part of the line took place; a disturbance occurred, and the deceased and other officers attempted to quell it; the policemen were beaten by the "navvies," mostly Irishmen; three of the rioters stabbed Sommerville with some sharp instrument, and horribly man- gled his face: he expired soon after. The murderers escaped for the time. Considerable apprehensions are beginning to be entertained concerning the seed- potatoes either now ylanted or about to be so. The gardener at Blair Drummond House is in the habit of rearing potatoes in frames for the use of the family; and now that the young tubers are bTinning to be of some size, he finds them on in- spection diseased. The same Sung is happening in the garden of Mr. Forbes, Callender House. The shaws reach about a foot high, and then begin to wither and die. A farmer from the neighbourhood of Denny informs us, that his seed is rotting in the ground. On Tuesday afternoon, in a garden contiguous to the town, we saw some seed lifted in a perfectly decomposed state, like a jelly. Still the gardener thinks it is not looking so ill, upon the whole, as it did a week ago. —,Stirling Observer.