ROTTEN BOROUGHS.
[To TILE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.") read with some surprise in last week's Spectator (p. 777) the phrase "rotten boroughs like Galway, Newry, and Kilkenny " ! Does not your desire to set aside the Act of Union beguile you into a misuse .of terms ? The word "rotten" in this context implies venality, and if the boroughs in question were venal, a Unionist might stand for them with some hope of success. Yet you will hardly assert that any one but a Nationalist—that is to say, a representative of the constituency's sincere political opinions—would have the least chance of being returned for any of these places, even though his preliminary outlay were to be on the generous scale
required for a contest in one of your admirably populous English constituencies.—I am, Sir, &c., STEPHEN GWYNN.
[During the agitation for the great Reform Bill "rotten boroughs" was the term used to denote all the little boroughs, and not merely those which were venal. We used the term in this sense, and had no intention of imputing corruption to the boroughs named.—En. Spectator.]
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