THE ROSS-SHIRE ELECTION.
THE result of the election for the combined counties of Ross and Cromarty has an unusual significance. The handsome majority which assigned to the Liberal candidate a
place on the poll far above the united strength of his oppo- nents is gratifying. The gratification is enhanced by the fact that, antecedently, his Conservative rival seemed to have a fair chance, and that even _the Land-law Reformer did not lack substantial encouragement to persist. For well-nigh forty years the representation had been monopolised by one family ; and the fact had provoked grumbling and jealousy. There had been no contest since 1852, on which occasion the late Sir James Matheson was hard pressed, having been defeated on the mainland, and enabled to keep his seat only by the countervailing vote, given solid, of his island tenantry. Since then the Conservative element in the proprietary has been
powerfully reinforced, partly through defections, partly by the incoming of new men very largely belonging to the par- venu breed. The swarm of sporting gentry who have settled down upon the western half of the shire, and who are present in force at this season, have, for the most part, Conservative predilections and affinities. There was a little scepticism as to how the Lewis contingent of electors would act, for Lady Matheson (a Percival) had been misled into issuing a species of allocution, instructing the islanders that she has lost confidence in the Government, and would be pleased did they help to return a man pledged to the Opposi- tion. They were treated in a more oblique fashion to in- fluential advice of like import which came upon them un- expectedly. Mr. Macfarlane, M.P. for Carlow—who has received notice from Mr. Parnell to quit that place, and is suspected of designs upon a Highland constituency ; Mr. Richard Power, who has not yet been ostracised by the Parnellite junta ; Mr. Glorst, the Member for Chatham ; and Professor Blackie bore down in concert upon Stornoway, called a meeting to consider the Land Laws, and forthwith proceeded to discuss the election. The lively Professor was heard with delight while he rhymed and rattled in his customary vein on things in general, but no sooner did be trench on politics, and essay to counsel his auditors that they should emulate his utter in- difference to Whig or Tory, than he was sharply pulled up, and they refused to listen to him any longer. His companions fared even worse. Mr. Gorst, in particular (who must have deemed himself beyond the range of reporters), was per- emptorily snubbed, and reduced to bewildered silenoe, when he thought meet to urge that the constituency should eschew the choice of a landowner as a representative! In a manly and rational spirit those whom he addressed derided and contemned his sinister advice, even as they and their fellows scouted Lady Matheson's unwise attempt at dictation, which had small effect in the Lewis, and elsewhere did service instead of injury to the Liberal cause. The enumeration of influences adverse to the Liberals has not been exhausted by this recital. It should be added that the Established Clergy, repeating the egregious blunder which their class committed at the General Election, went in a body for the Tory candidate. Further, although the Free Church is overwhelmingly strong in the region, its adherents are split into two parties,—one eager for Disestablishment, the other, and by far the larger portion, deprecating with a passionate earnestness the cessation of such
a national acknowledgment of God as an Established Church implies ; holding tenaciously that magistrates and legislators do not in those capacities lay aside their Christian character, and fully prepared to acquiesce in Hooker's repudiation of the idea that Sovereigns and Parliaments exist only "to fat-up men like hogs, and see they have their mast." It was diffi- cult to please both ; but Mr. Ferguson accomplished it judiciously, by declaring himself in favour of maintaining the Establishment, if it can be rendered more useful, and better suited to the needs and convictions of those for whose behoof its preservation is desirable. The land question, too, was a difficulty, though not of so formidable a cast. Mr. Ferguson's views regarding it commended themselves to those who understand it best, as sane, benevolent, and appro- priate, while the views of the stray gentleman from London, who was encumbered by the help of Mr. Macfarlane and his associates, were summed up in a proposal to extend the opera- tion of the Irish Land Act to the West Highlands ; and Mr. Mackenzie angled for the support of the small farmers by pro- pounding a scheme which, under the guise of being "practical," embodied many crude and loose suggestions, the principal being a large advance of money on conditions that can only be described as fantastic. Upon the whole it is indisputable that in no Scottish constituency, save those few where Con- servative domination is firmly established, had Conservatism a finer opportunity for waging a good fight.
The manner in which it has been worsted typifies, accord- ing to the judgment of those who ought to know, what would be the answer of Scotland to a general challenge. There has been no renunciation of allegiance by the Scottish people to the Gladstone Government. The approaching visit of the Premier will demonstrate that there has been no perceptible slackening of enthusiasm on its behalf. The Scots arenot a capricious and volatile race. Their characteristics are what they themselves term "dourness," patience, steady determina- tion. They are not spiritless and unimpressible, cold- blooded or dull, but their likings and convictions are cherished with rare constancy, and they can always command themselves. Disappointed they have been by the unproductiveness of successive legislative seasons, they have made inquisition as to the cause, and have satisfied them- selves that it does not lie in any lack of will or capacity on the part of Ministers. Their loyalty remains, therefore, prompt and unflinching. The next election will witness an unprecedented change in the personnel of the Scottish re- presentation, for already about half its Members have announced their intention to retire ; but like-minded successors will be chosen for every Liberal vacancy, and there is good hope that the slender band who give their voices to Sir Stafford North- cote will be reduced to proportions still more attenuated.
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