SCOTLAND.

A meeting of the Edinburgh Merchant Company took place on Saturday ; when a petition was unanimously agreed to the House of Peers, expressing the great satisfaction felt that the Right Honourable House had now recognized the principles of Parliamentary Reform, by agreeing to the second reading of the Bill, and praying their Lord- ships.sp.eedily to pass it into a law, in order to put an end to the stag- nation of trade, and to satisfy the wishes of the country. A memorial to Earl Grey was also agreed to, thanking the Premier for having so nobly redeemed his pledge of bringing in a Bill as efficient as the last ; And urging, if necessary, the exercise of the proper steps to secure the passing of the Bill.

The meeting sub Jove of the Edinburgh Reformers seems, from the accounts that have reached us, to have been a magnificent affair. It took place in the King's Park, near to the ancient palace of Holyrood; from the windows of which the exiled King of France might have beheld another specimen of the working of that principle which he and his im- becile Ministry trusted they had the power to put down. The New North Briton calculates the assembled numbers at sixty thousand ; one of the speakers talks of fifty thousand. Even if we take the smaller number, the meeting will still be the most numerous ever held in Scot- land. The assemblage was of a highly respectable character,—as most Scotch meetings are, for the people go to them seriously and as matter of business. We do not, therefore, at all doubt the truth of the North Briton's description, when we are told that there were congre- gated on Tuesday " a very large proportion of landed gentlemen, mer- chants, individuals of all professions, intermingled with a body of tradesmen, equal, if not superior, to any that could be mustered in any other city of equal population." Hustings were provided for the com- mittee and their friends, to the number of about two hundred; they had previously assembled in an adjoining garden. They proceeded in a .body to the hustings at two o'clock ; and soon afterwards, a procession of the tradesmen of all sorts, with their respective banners and bands of music (abundance of bagpipes included), came to the ground in the most orderly manner, and took up such positions as the immense crowd, previously assembled, rendered practicable. The tradesmen assembled about one o'clock in the Meadow Walk, whence they proceeded through George's Square, along the South Bridge, and down the High Street and Canongate, to Holyrood House, and the place of meeting. One fact will better serve to inform our readers of the political state of Scotland than a hundred arguments. It was noticed by old Sir John Dalrymple, in the commencement of his speech, that he had never been upon nor seen such a thing as hustings in the country before! On the meeting's being "constituted," as our neighbours express it, Mr. J. A. .Murray, advocate, was called to the chair; which his excellent prin- ciples and universal acceptability well entitled him to fill. The reso- lutions—a petition to the Lords to pass the Bill without mutilation— and a memorial to Earl Grey, calling on him to use all constitutional means to insure its passing—were moved and seconded by the follow- ing gentlemen : Sir David Baird, Bart. ; Mr. Aytoun, advocate; Sir John Dalrymple, Bart. ; Mr. Hunter, advocate ; Mr. R. Thompson, merchant; Mr. Biggar; Sir J. G. Craig, Bart. ; Mr. Weir, advocate; Mr. Thomson, advocate ; Sir J. D. Lauder, Bart. ; Mr. Prentice. Sir A. Maitland, Bart., Sir R. K. Dick, Bart., and Sir D. Kinloch, Bart. were on the hustings as part of the Committee.

We have not space for many extracts from the speeches on this great occasion ; which is the less to be regretted, that, in the nature of things, speeches, whether for or against a measure which has been weighed and discussed, clause by clause and word by word, for the last eighteen months, present nothing out of which the genius of the most inventive could create a new argument. One or two passages we must however cull.

Sir David Baird remarked on the progress that Reform had made during the discussion of the Bill even—

He had to propose a resolution expressive of their satisfaction and acknow- ledgments at the triumph which the nation's cause had lately achieved in the

House of Lords ; a triumph which, in his opinion, was the more satisfactory and the more valuable from its haVinglaren gained without the benefit of any extraneous act—without, in fact, any and whatever, excepting it were the neces-

sary consequence of the natural progress of the cause of justice and of truth, since the former period of the question's being brought under the consideration of their Lordships' assembly,—a progress which had effected a difference in their decision upon the very same question, of no fewer than fifty votes, during the short period of six months.

Mr. Aytoun spoke of the union of all classes in the cause of Reform.

" We are here men of all classes, from the great landholder to the honest and intelligent artisan, who obtains his livelihood, in the most honourable of all ways, by his own indUstry. No false distinction of rank does there exist amongst us ; we are all here upon a perfect footing of equality; the rich here hold out the right hand of fellowship to the poor, and the only object of ambition is, which amongst us will evince the greatest zeal to serve the good cause—which will do most to render successful the People's Bill, that charter of our liberties. This immense assemblage is composed, I repeat, gentlemen, of Reformers of all classes. The honourable Baronet who has just addressed von, and whose speech was received with such applause, is the representative of one of the old aristocratic families of the land ; but he is at the same time, what we all know him to be, a true and sincere friend of the people. I, 'again, who have now the honour to solicit your attention, avow myself a Radical Reformer and a Political Unionist, but one who is ready to wave all difference of opinion to promote that great measure upon which we are all united."

The ten-pound franchise has been of late the subject of more discus- sion than any other point of the Bill. It is worth while to see how the leading men of Scotland speak of it. Sir John Dalrymple said— The resolution which he held in his hand, expressed the satisfaction of the meeting relative to the second reading of the Bill in the House of Lords, and prayed their Lordships to pass it without raising the qualification. He could conceive nothing more reasonable; and, in his view of the case, Ministers could accept of nothing less. They were pledged to the principle of the Bill. Besides, to alter the 101. franchise in England, he esteemed impossible. And he could not even picture to himself any thing so impolitic, any thing so grossly unjust, as that of giving one species of franchise to England and another to Scotland ; and that he felt confident would never happen. They might thoroughly confide in the Government. • Their general management of the Reform Bill had been admirable. The best thanks of the country, their hearty support, and their unlimited confidence, were due to Government, for having, he might say, se- cured Parliameatary Reform to the empire in general, and to Scotland a repre- sentation where hardly a shadow of it existed before. He knew that certain misgivings existed in this country relative to the 101. franchise; he esteemed them quite groundless; he therefore recommended peace, patience, and firm- ness; and he then repeated what he had said from the chair at their last meet- ing, that they were as certain of Reform, and, he would add, with a 101. fran- chise, as they were certain that he then addressed them.

Mr. Hunter expressed nearly the same sentiments— By that clause the measure must stand or fall. He trusted that it would not be rejected; but it was indispensable that they should make it known, that, as freemen, they valued their just rights, and that they would lawfully but firmly assert them. The 101. qualification was chosen because it was already known— because it agreed with the large and liberal principles upon which the measure was founded--:and because it was suited to the wants and condition of the coun- try. The qualification was no novelty, but was that which even a Tory Mi- nistry had adopted as the lowest which could be justly given to the electors of Ireland. Who, then, would venture to' say that a qualification which Tories thought fitted for the people of Ireland, could not be safely intrusted to the better educated, the more steady, and, he trusted lie might say, without offence, the more orderly inhabitants of Britain ?

And again, Sir James Gibson Craig-

" One thing.I would observe, in regard to the 101. franchise, that it does ap- pear to me to be of the very essence of the Bill, tending to increase the moral strength of the country. To put it in the power of any man of common indus- try to obtain an object which must be a subject of ambition to all, is surely a benefit worthy of contending for."

It would be going too far to say that these gentlemen are in the secrets of Government, but they are old and tried friends of the Whig cause in Scotland ; and it is extremely improbable that they should have so earnestly pressed on the meeting the importance of this clause, if they had not been well aware that Ministers meant to make a steady and determined stand for it.

At the close of the business, the Chairman proposed three cheers in honour of King William the Fourth, thefather of his country ; "when a shout ascended," says the North Briton, " such as we never before heard : it rent the welkin; and a cloud of hats and banners were seen waving over the animated scene for some time ; and when the first cheer- ing ceased, it was only for a moment,—three cheers for ' Reform' again ascended, and spread far and wide throughout the assembled mul- titude. The bands then struck up God save the King ;' and this ended the meeting."

" We rejoice to say," the Edinburgh Paper adds, " that not the slightest accident occurred to damp the satisfaction which seemed to pervade all present. The Trades went in procession from the King's Park to Moray Place, in order to express their thanks to the Lard Provost for his courteous and conciliatory conduct in sanctioning their procession ; a circumstance which should be a lesson to all persons in authority, not to thwart the lawful and innocent wishes of those under their jurisdiction."