SCOTLAND.

meeting of the Town-Council ; when it was arranged that a public meeting should be held at two o'clock on the following Monday, in order to give Sir Henry an opportunity of rendering an account of his stewardship. As soon as it was ascertained that Sir Henry was on his road to Dundee, a meeting of the non-electors was called, " to consider Sir Henry Parnell's votes in Parliament, and public affairs in general." This meeting was held on Saturday evening, and was numerously attended; Mr. James Whyte, weaver, in the chair. Mr. James Buik, weaver, moved an address to Sir Henry, in a speech not altogether complimentary to the honourable Member for Dundee. He especially complained of Sir Henry's absence from the Ballot divi- sion, and his vote in favour of Military Flogging ; it being well known that Sir Henry was in favour of the Ballot and opposed to Military Flogging, Mr. Buik mentioned, that the Chairman had called with him on Sir Henry, to 'ascertain if he would receive an address from the non-electors; and Sir Henry naturally inquired the purport of it. The two questions of Ballot and Flogging were discussed, and also Peerage Reform. Sir Henry said, he would leave it to the people of Dundee to say, whether he should abandon a Government pledged to the sup- port of many great questions, merely because it had been hitherto re- solved that the members of the Govermnent should vote, or not vote, in a particular way on certain other measures on which the Govern- ment was divided, The reply of Mr. Buik to this question was, that a great majority of the people of Dundee were in favour of the Ballot. After some further discussion, an address to Sir Henry Parnell was agreed to.

On Monday, Sir Henry addressed an assembly of several thou- sands from hustings erected in the High Street; the Provost of Duedee, Lord D. G. Hallyburton, Mr. Chalmers, M. P. for Mon- trose, and other gentlemen, supporting him. Sir Henry (lid not re- ceive a very hearty welcome from the crowd. He commenced his speech by expressing his satisfaction at again meeting his constituents, and by declaring that his principles had undergone no change since the time of his first election for Dundee. He had come among them to give in an open and manly manlier an account of his Parliamentary conduct.

A justification of his own conduct involved that of the Government ; he.. cause every Minister who accepted office, came under an implied condition to

support the measures of those who placed him in office, and in some degree to surrender his own private judgment on some questions. When he last appeared

bet': we them, he justified his acceptance of office by the expectation which he entertained that Lord Melbourne would conduct the Government of the coun- try fairly and honestly. He told them that lie knew Lord Melbourne per- sonally, and that, from the firmness of his character, from his probity and ta- lents. he considered him qualified for the situation of Prime Minister ; and he trusted that he could now fearlessly refer to every part of Lord Melbourne's conduct during the eighteen months he had been in office, to prove the accu- racy of his anticipations.

Sir Henry went on to enumerate the principal measures proposed by the Government in the last session.

It appeared to him, that although much had been said at meetings similar to the present about the procedure of Government, full justice had not been done, in consequence of not bringing together into one view all the measures of Reform which the Government had introduced. For want of this, it' ap- peared to him that Ministers had not received that degree of credit to which they were entitled. He had taken pains to make up an accurate list of those me isures ; and he thought that when the meeting heard that no less than twenty-one great measures had been entered upon by Government in one session, it must strike them that Government was not remiss in fulfilling the nopes entertained. 'I here was the English Tithe Bill, the Dissenters' Marriage Bill, th2 Registration of Births and Deaths, the Bill for the Reduction of Taxes on Knowledge, the Charitable Trustees Bills, a Bill to amend the English Mimi- cipal Reform Bill of the previous session, the Jewish Disabilities Bill, the Post- office Reform Bill, the Prisoners' Counsel Bill, the County Election. Bill, and the Imprisonment for Debt Bill. Neither were the interests of Scotland ne. gleeteil. There was the Court of Session Bill, the Sheriff Court Bill, the bill called the Diligence Bill, the bill regarding theVoters in Counties, and obi!l introduced, although not persevered in, for reforming the Scottish Municipal Corporations. For Ireland there was the Irish Municipal Bill. the Irish Church Bill, and a bill of very great consequence regarding Irish Nice. Now, if all these measures be inquired into, it will be seen that they are fo laded on the principle of ex- tending the original measure of Reform through all the branches of Govern- ment. But he could likewise refer to the manner in which these measures were prepared. The preparation of them required great knowledge and la- bour ; but it was accomplished in a most satisfactory manner. He believed that no measures were ever brought forward less liable to objection. With re- spect to the efforts made to carry them, he world say that the discussion of them occupied seven months, and that the most strenuous endeavours were made in both Houses to secure their success; and lie would refer to the speeches made by Ministers to show that nothing was wanting to secure that success. With regard to the careful manner in which the measures had been prepared, he was able to quote an authority which, in this town especially, would be of high value ; he referred to his friend Mr. Rintoul. ( Cheers.) Sir Henry here read au extract from the Spectator, in which it was stated that Ministers met Parliament with a stock of useful and digested measures. Now, continued Sir Henry, I refer to this authority the niore readily, because NIr. Rintoul has all along acted a mos. independent part, and is as ready to do justice to Ministers when he can conscientiously do so, as to find fault with them when occasion requires. ( Cheers.)

But it had been said, that though Government introduced good mea- sures, they had been of no use, for nothing bad been accomplished—all gone for nothing : be had read as much in speeches and pamphlets.

Now, it was tedious to refer to such statements ; but, on an important occa- sion like this, he would endeavour to show that Government had not been so useless as represented. He would refer to the measures which had been passed during the eighteen months the Ministry bail been in office. There was the English Municipal Bill, the English Tithe Bill, the Dissenters' Marriage Bill, the Registration of Births and Deaths Bill, the reduction of duties on News- papers, and the reduction of the duty on Paper to the extent of a half. These two last went a great way to diminish the expense of publication, and conse- quently to lead to a greater circulation of the means of communicating knew- ledge. Another important step was gained—the putting clown of Orange Societies. He had already mentioned the Irish Police Bill; but there was another still, which ultimately would be of great advantage—the bill for equal- lizinet the duty on East India Sugar. Now, if all these be put together, it must be at-knowledge(' that much good hail been done ; and if it be recollected what opposition was made by the powerful Corporations of England, the reluctance of the Clergy to change, and the opposition made to the claims of the Dissenters, it must be allowed that Ministers have had great difficulties to contend with. He referred to these measures the more readily, as showing, in the case of the English Corporations, that then is a desire in Minietere to act on the princi- ples of civil liberty ; in their treatmeut of the Dissenters and the Orange

Lodges a desire to at on the principles of religious liberty ; and in the case of the duty on East India sugar, a &awe to break down commercial monopoly ; i

$o that n every way that the procedure of Ministers is examined, it will be found that they act on the general principle of liberty.

Still, many Ministerial measures had been rejected by the House of Lords. It ought at the same time to be remembered, that this ob- stacle to improvement, this hostile majority in the Lords, existed in Lord Grey's time, and that Lord Melbourne was not answerable for it. It was only necessary to refer to the speeches of Lord Melbourne, Lord Holland, and other Liberal Lords, to show that they were sincere in their. efforts to procure good bills to be passed. Having thus men- tioned the House of Lords, he would not give the subject of Peerage

Reform the slip ; but in stating his opinion, he was not to be held as speaking the opinion of the Cabinet on this question, for he was igno- rant of what that opinion was. He only spoke as the Representative of Dundee—

With regard to his own opinion, he had no hesitation in saying, that it ap- peared to him that the time was near at haud when something must be done to put an end to the state of disunion which exists betwixt the Houses of Lords

and Commons. ( Cheers.) Four sessions have now passed since the Reform Bill was carried, and in every one the house of Lords had resisted the House

of Commons by rejecting the most important measures sent up; and who can

say that it does not appear. from this circumstance, that the constitution of the House of Lords, as now existing, is imperfect, and cannot go on with the new

order of things as created by the Reform Act ; and therefore something has

arisen for correction out of the Reform Act ? ( Cheers.) No doubt could exist, that if the Lords persevered in their conduct, legislation would come to a stand ; and not merely the legislation of the country, but if resistance was ex-

tended, the business of carrying on the Government might also come to a stand.

Now with regard to a plan of Peerage Reform, he had only to put them in wind of several, in connexion with which it would be found that the advocates

of the measure had not agreed on any one plan. No plan had been proposed which had not met with opposition. Until some distinct and intelligible plan was brought forward, it would, in sorne degree, be premature and improper to pronounce an opinion on the course which should be adopted.

Sir Henry then claimed credit for the mode id which the affairs of the country had been administered, especially with reference to our foreign policy and the Government of Ireland. With regard to the intentions of the Ministry, he felt quite certain that they meant to go onward— They would not stop because partially defeated. They are not conquered or vanquished by the Ilouse of Lords. They know they are supported by the people • and it remained with the constituencies throughout the empire, to sup- port them by increasing, on the first opportunity, the majority in the Corn mons ; and if this be the case, they will succeed iii carrying all their measures. They will again introduce next session the measures rejected in the last, and add others, amongst which will be one for the settlement of Church-rates. Ile had felt it necessary, as a Minister of the Crown, to enter into these details. In defending the Government, he was defending himself as a member of it ; and it was only by showing that that Government deserved well of the country, that he looked for a justification of his own conduct. As he had already said, when accepting office, he knew that he was placing himself under some degree of restraint ; but by holding office he had it in his power to give his constitu- ents and the public a fair equivalent for that restraint. He begged to explain, that in the office he held, he had succeeded in carrying into effect a most im- portant reform, which would lead to a great saving of expense. So long ago as 1819, he had proposed resolutions in the Commons, amongst which he re- commended that the Paymasters of the Forces, of the Navy, Ordnance, &c. should all be brought together—an arrangement which would not only lead to a saving of expense, but to a simplification in the whole transactions. In his work on Finance, he had enforced the same measure ; and he was happy to say, that not only was this determined on but it would actually take place on the let of December. Instead of high salaries being paid as heretofore to dif- ferent officers, the whole would be consolidated into one, and some of the in- ferior offices abolished, as well as a considerable number of high.paid clerks dispensed with. A simplification of the whole machinery would take place. The common system of book-keeping by double entry would be practised, so that the state of matters could be seen at a glance. It was not to be understood that this was a subject of small importance, for from 12,000,000/. to 13,000,1100/. a year required to be paid in quarterly payments, besides pensions to sailors, soldiers, &c. He had also to say, in speaking of himself as a servant of the public, that he could refer to a very laborious task ip which he had been en- gaged as Chairman of the Excise Inquiry. The Commissioners had submitted no fewer than twenty Reports to the Treasury, in which all the departments of the Excise had been reported on A certain degree of success had already attended this investigation. The duties on stone bottles and starch have been repealed, and the duty on glass and paper reduced ; and rations regulations have been recommended in the Reports, which, if adopted, will contribute prodigiously to to the advantage of manufacturers and dealers and render the revenue at the same time more productive, lie would not !have mentioned these details had he not considered it his duty to show that in discharging his duty to the public, he had done all in his power to promote economy and good government.

As regarded his conduct on the Ballot, he referred to a letter he had received from the Political Union on the subject, and to the reply he gave— That reply was considered satisfactory to the Union. He had stated in his letter, that if the friends of Liberal measures were to push all points to extre- mity, it would lead to a breaking-up of the Government. Now he considered that the same thing applied to his other votes which had been objected to. Ile would state, however, that whenever he found the Government bringing for- ward a bad measure, lie ?could at once rote against it and abandon office : out of office, he would vote for every measure to which he was pledged.

Mr. Bowie, one of the non-electors, read the address of that body to Sir Henry; and added remarks which elicited much cheering.

Sir Henry said, in reply, that he thought justice was not done to the Government in the address— There was no allusion made to the measures which had been passed, particu- larly the reduction of the Stamp-duty, which had been so earnestly called for by the non-electors on a previous occasion. On the Cora-laws, he took the opportunity of saying, that the object of Government, in appointing the Com- mittee on Agriculture last session, was with the view of founding a measure for the repeal, or at any rate a modification of these laws*. For this, he thought, • We suspect there is a mistake in this part of the report, which we take as commu- nicated by a correspondent of the Courier. From the composition of the Agricultural Committee—containing so large a majority of landowners, as we showed at the time— it seems clear that no attack on the Corn-laws could have been contemplated by the Ministers. Probably Sir Henry Parnell stated, as an inference from the utter failure to the Committee to prove that any benefit to the farmer accrued from the Corn-laws, that the appointment of the Committee had been of service to the opponents of those laws, and would hasten the time of their abolition. the Government deserved credit. He would appeal to the good sense of the non-electors, whether they would drive the members of Government to the alternative of abandoning office when they could be of practical advantage to the nation, merely to secure individual votes on certain questions. In office he could do much, and had done much, which he never could have accomplished as a Member of Parliament simply. He could assure the non-electors, however, that he would pay every attention to the address delivered.

Sir Henry Parnell then left the hustings amidst only partial cheering.