SCOTLAND.
The recall of the Duke of Wellington to the chief place in his Majesty's councils, has raised a spirit in the North which no Anti- Reformer will be able to lay, charm he never so wisely. The w of Scotland seems to be on the move. The Reformers have
for a time tj to!get their di r ._eriauccs, and have united to oppose the enemy of all Reform. It %rill be seen by the following summary of the proceediags at the principal meetings, that the stern and vigorous resolves of the Scottish foes to corruption are expressed in more straightforward terms than Englishmen have as yet adopted. At Edinburgh, on the 21st there was a great meeting in the Grass- market : the numbers have been estimated at from 10,000 to 15,000. The Lord Provost took the chair. Sir T. D. Lauder, Mr. — Wemyss, Mr. It. W. Jameson, Mr. J. Baird, Sir John Gibson Craig, and Bailie M‘Laren moved and seconded the resolutions. It should be noted, that Mr. Went yss is a workman, and Mr. Jameson One of the leading Radicals in Ldinburgh. It was agreed beforehand, that the Radicals should have a fair hearing, and that a resolution, to be proposed by Mr. Aytoun, should be put to the meeting. This was done ; and the resolution proposed by that gentleman—which went beyond the one drawn up by the managers of the meeting, in that it recommended Triennial Putliatnents, the Ballot, and household suffrage—was negatived, but by so small a majority, that there is reason to doubt whether it was not carried after all. The contest was a perfectly amicable one, however, anti nothing occurred to disturb the good feeling of the meeting. The resolutions agreed to were the fol- lowing, and an address founded on them was directed to be presented to the King by Mr. Abercromby and Sir John Campbell. "1. mot the meeting has learnt with feelings of deep surprise and regret, that his Majesty has been advised to dismiss from his COUneilS. Nvithout even a trial of their measures, at a time of general prosperity and natioual triet, an Administration, whose professions and character gave promise of a system of i iberal and enlightened policy. and to commit the power of constructiug a new Cabinet to his Grace the Doke of Wellington, the open enemy of Helium. 2. That from t he avowed opinions and poli• tical conduct of the Duke of Wellington, the meeting can have no confidence in any Administration formed under his auspices ; and, theretbre, holds it to be a right and a duty, especially while Parliament is not sitting, humbly to approach the Throne. for the purpose or representing to his 'Majesty the calamities and dangers which are likely to befall the country under an Administration thus formed. 3. Thatan humble address, in terms of the preceeding Resolutions, be signed by the Chairman in the name of the meeting, and presented to his Majesty, earnestly eutreatiug that his Majesty would L graciously pleased to exclude his Grace the Duke of Wellington from his councils, and to admit to them none lint Ruch own as are honestly determined to extirpate every abuse —to produce, by the adoption of a more decidedly liberal policy. the reconciliation if those partial dfircrences which hare unhappily arisen moony the true friends of improvement, and thus to give to this great country all t he benefits which it has a right to expect from Reform in Parliament ; and further praying. that his Majesty may be pleased to assemble Parliament Myatt delay, in order to take its advice in the present momentous and alarming state of public affairs."
Several of the speeches deserve larger extracts than we have space at this busy time to assign to them ; but we cull a few passages.
Sir T. I). Lauder said—" Well, indeed, does the Duke of Wellington desetve to be called the Great Captain of the age ; for, I ask you, who it was that made us, when we stood up in battle array for Reform ? Who, I ask, gave us the
word of command= Forward, march It was the Duke of Wellington that did so, gentlemen, when he was pleased to express in Parliament his hostility to all Reform : it was that declaration which gave the great impulse to the cause of Reform, and which was the means of carrying it. And what the Conserva- tives are now affraid of is, that his recent move against us will he the mold to us to march in double quick time. his Grace at one period declared that he would be worse than mad to think of becoming Minister. It is no uncommon thing with those who are liable to fits of insanity, to have a certain presentiment of the approach of the malady. If it was madness for him to take office then, it is surely worse than insanity for him to do it at present. By what means dots he propose to govern this great country ? Does he expect to do it without the cmi- fidence of the People of Great Britain ? Does he imagine that, fte we have ploughed and sown the ground, and at the moment of our seeing the green blade of promise piercing the soil beneath thegenial influence of a serene and selshiny sky, that we shall submit to see the enemy harrow us up for the purpose of sow- ing tares amongst our wheat ?" Mr. Jameson, the Radical—" Gentlemen, this is indeed a terrible crisis: it can only he paralleled by that tremendous time when you met in the King's Park, in countless thousands, with your black banners, and daunted the soul of him whom nothing else could or would daunt, and to whom the bloody god of war is as a father and a friend. That was indeed a terrible time: we had then many enemies around us ; the danger was imminent. Although this is a terrible crisis, it is not so tremendous as that was. Then the power was in other hands —the moral influence only in ours. But now both these are in our own hands, and success depends upon ourselves. The oaly danger is that we spoil both by making an unwise use of them. That was a time uf great excitement ; and you all remember with what unexampled moderation and zeal we worked to replace the Whigs in power, who had given us the glorious Reform Bill. Our hopes of a good return from them were high. But I need not detail to you what we ex- acted, fur I see it marked on that placard before me." [Mr. Jameson here read .::om a placard in front of the hustings as follows—" We want neither Tory tyranny nor Whig humbug, but an extension of the elective franchise, without which there never can be justice or peace in the country."] " Yes, gentlemen, they knew then that the People would not be satisfied without farther conce,,- sions from the hand of power. We wished that every payer of taxes should have a voice in the government of the country, that the durations of Parliament should be abridged, and that the voter's conscience should be protected by the laws. We did expect that those men would consummate the Reform Bill. We fondly trusted them ; but I must say we were not so well requited is our gene- rous confidence in them entitled us to expect. Year after year passed by, anti triennial Parliaments and an extension of the franchise, continued merely the theme of Radical meetings, or essays in Radical newspapers. The Whig Mi- nistry, which was the creation of the People, trifled with the People's wishes ; rnd their power and influence in consequence waned ; their reputation sank ; and as they became the mere creatures of a Pat liamentary majority, they at last became the. victims of a Court intrigue. But, gentlemen, justice to the Whig Ministry obliges us to admit, and recent disclosures have shown, that the difficulties they had to contend against were far more than we were aware of, and that their office was always atthe mercy of those who have chosen to brave the consequences of a nation's just indignation. Who now dispenses the dreaded power of the executive? It is the mar, gentlemen, whose talents are as great as his heart is hard. Look at the half. moon battery, and at the iron hail it would send down upon your devoted heads. [Pointing to the cloud-capped Castle, which overhangs the Grassmarket, where the meeting was held.] Would you expect mercy from it 7 Just as much mercy may you expect from the Duke of Wellington. He may yield to the tyrant's plea of necessity, but to nothing else. A man who is the friend of Nicholas, the murderer of Poland—himself the consenter to the death of the gallant Ney—a man who asks but the excuse of a single insurrection to let slip among you the dogs of war, and to refuse to say peace until he sees desolation —a man whose hopes are built upon your disunion—a man whose first wish is that you should fight, and whose second is that you should merely differ among yourselves—will you give him his wish ? If by insurrection you will lose every thing, by disunion you will gain nothing. Oh, gentlemen, remember, your forefathers on the fatal day of Bothwell Bridge, when the Covenanters, the Reformers of those days, were drawn up, but in disunited order, on one side—of the river, and the Tories, with their usual arguments of the sabre and the pis. to!, in firm and embattled array on the other. Claverhouse—the Wellington°, his time— (Cheers and laughter)—with his falcon eye, was watching tad, movements : all that was needed was to defend the bridge, the Reform Bill of i that memorable contest: a united force could have done it easily ; hut no, the Reformers were then too much occupied with their differences to heed even so advancing army—their whole anxiety was to see what concessions one Reformer would accord to his brother. The bridge was neglected—the critical moment lost—the dragoons were on the bridge—it was lost—and the growls of discos. tent, and the shouts of contention, were unheard amid the shrieks and yells of dismay, and agony, and despair, and death. Be not, then, like your forefathers, in this their only fault. You deniand concessions ; you deserve concessions;
but, oh ! ask them not in the presence of him whose only concession would be the choice of the hangman's rope or the dragoon's sabre."
Mr. Aytoun—" We are told that the Parliament will be dissolved. So much the better. We shall then have the affair in our own hands, and the next Boum of Commons will be much more decide.d and determined to follow out the wishes of the People. The present crisis, if properly managed by the People, must he productive of beneficial effects to the cause of Reform. 'The Court would DUI have ventured to have had the Ministry dismissed, had they not imagined that because the late Administration bad become somewhat unpopular, they might with safety dismiss them in favour of the Duke of Wellington. Let the Whigs, then, learn from this, that if ever again they are offered the reins of Govern- . mcnt, they must only accept them with the most unlimited powers—(Long con. ' tinned cheeriay): and let them be sure that no Government which assumes even the nanie of Liberal, will be retained a moment longer in power than while the Court considers itself obliged to do so. Let them be convinced, in short, that their only chance of remaining permanently in office, must depend on their having the complete and full confidence of the People."
The Glasgow Reformers assembled on Saturday, on the Green in front of the Justiciary Court Hall. Although the shortness of the notice prevented large bodies of the working classes from being present, about thirty thousand attended the meeting, There was a great display of black flags, on which death's heads, cross-bones, &c. were depicted, as in the memorable summer of 1832. The Glasgow Argus gives this account of them- " On one uncommonly large black flag, was painted a hand and dagger with the words ' Liberty or death.' Another bore the ominous words, We are ready.' A third, Once more unto the Breach.' A representation of a battle. axe and a sand. glass with the words, Death and Destruction to the cold- blooded tyrants, foes of Preedom."This black flag was absolutely frightening, from the number of glaring skulls, cross-bones, &c. scattered over it ; and it had dangling at the top of the staff, a dead crow. A sword crossed upon the head of a pole was surmounted by the words= Leading argument of theWellington Administration.' Another sword in a similar position was accompanied thus—' This, ere we want our rights.' A coloured flag bore the words—' Disappointed, but not vanquished.' and another large flag recommended, ' No flinching now.' An excellent cari- cature of Wellington was borne aloft on an enormous pole, with a rept esentatioa of a crown dangling from his head by a cord, To enumerate the whole, or even a tithe of the representations, however, is out of the question : the above are a few of the most remarkable that attracted our notice. Immediately in front of the chair, a banner with the Earl of Durham's armorial bearings, and the motto The day will come,' was hoisted, and loudly cheered.' " All this shows that the stern descendants of the Covenanters con- sider the return of the Anti-Reformers to power no trivial affair. The Lord Provost was unanimously voted into the chair. Mr. Colin Dunlop seems to have been the principal spokesman. He thus disposed of the charge of interfering with the Royal prerogative— Their opponents represented that in their meeting to address the King they were dictating to him who should be his counciuors. God forbid. They woe not dictating to his Majesty. They were merely assembled to give their respect- ful advice. They only wished to let him know what they wanted ; and ia doing so, were acting a strictly loyal and constitutional part. They were ind- urating to his Majesty, in respeeZad and loyal langaage, what they considered best for the interest of himself and the country at large. There was one other point to which he would for a moment turn their attention. It was often said that they ought to look to measures only, and not to men. He admitted at once that measures were the chief ends they had in view; but would any man say, for instance, that one wright might not be better able than another to do a piece of workmanship in his trade, or that one smith might not he superior to an- . other in finishing a job in his railing? Would Wellington carry on measures of Reform as well as Earl Grey would do ? Would a Government that had always acted in opposition to the principles of Reform carry into effect measures forthe benefit of the People better than would a Government which had always acted in favour of Liberal principles? The supposition was absurd. The other speeches were of a similar spirit. The resolutions ex- pressed deep regret at the recall of the Duke of Wellington : one of them stated- " That all the great interests of the country have rapidly improved since that stale5. man ceased. with the unanimous approbation of the People, to guide Ids Majesty's councils. The manufactures and commerce of the country have flourished under the and the inhabitants of Glasgow regard with dismay the disastrous effects which must Administration, of the confidence which has prevailed of the stability of a Reforming prevalence of its principles, and of the permanence of its enlightened foreign poliqf follow an abandonment of those principles, and a departure from that policy." he Political Union of Glasgow met on Friday, and expressed thei T r regret and alarm at the return of the Duke of Wellington to power, for
these very sufficient reasons-
.. 1st. The Duke of Wellington's wellknown and general avowal of arbitrary prin. cioles. 241, His speech against all Reform, made only within the last four years. al. His Protest against the Reform Bill, as entered on the Journals of the li011Se if Lords, Gill April -1832. 411i, His repeated expressions in Parliament in favour of the ;. accursed system of Tithes, and the cruel policy pursued towards the Irish liation.l 5th. Ilia being the friend and pensioner of foreign despots, and, as such, exposeil. to:. their influence. and uufit to govern a free people. 6th, His conduct to Marshal Isfey.;', alio was murdered by the Bourbon Government in violation of the Convention oft Paris, notwithstanding his appeal to the Duke of Wellington, who had signed that Convention. 7th, Ills active support of arbitrary power on the Continental Europe, and the certainty that his policy, if he be true to his principles, will necessarily invoice the nation in unjust atal ruinous wars against the whole liberties of Europe. 8th, Hts utter incompetency, if he act on his avowed arbitrary principles, to govern England bY any other means, than by the sword ; whieh has never yet been, and never will be sub- mitted to by the British people."
This declaration was forwarded to the Duke himself, by Mr. P. Mackenzie, a member of the Union, with the following pithy note.
unanimously adopted, in one of the most crowded meetings ever held in the Lyce,1,151 Glasgow, 2e1sat aoSpoyveomfbtehre1D834eils- " My Lord Duke—I have the honour to enclose 1"o
ration of the Glasgow Political Union : and I beg to assure your Grace, that it was
RMagistrates and To wn.Council of Dundee met "d adopted an addicts .tM o ooms, Glasgow. " I have the honour to be, r AcK trims. Upon receipt of the intelligence of the Duke's return power, the to the King. It is very respectful, but at the same time spcaks a suf- ficiently intelligible language. Thus- . We feel more especially called upon to approach your Majesty at a let iod tiles the pesent, to declare our convictions in regard to the unkoiked.for change which it has pleased your Majesty to make III the Councils of the State : but in so doing, we ques- tion not your ro■ al prerogative of selecting for your responsible athisers those in whose sisilum awl experience your Majesty can most explicitly confide ; at the same time we conceive it to be our bounden duty, as freemen and loyal subjects, faithfully, yet fear. re,,ly, to express our sentiments with respect to the choice, a hid,, in the exercise of tour Royal discretion, your Majesty may deem it expedient to make. In pursuauce of ihese our views or duty to your Majesty, permit us, for the sake of the peace and tran- quillity of the country, to deplore the necessity which seems to have existed for such a change in your Majesty's councils at the present time. Entirely ignorant of the causes which have led to results so unexpected, we presume not to say that the late Adminis- tration was worthy of your euutidenee; but we do most solemnly declare Ira your Ma- jesty, that unless their successors in office, whoever they may be. shall honestly and resolutely set about the reform of acknowledged abuses in Church ivid State—unless they shall proceed unhesitatingly to effect retrenchment in our enormous expenditure, to unshackle commerce, and to maintain peace—they will nut deservc your Majesty's confidence, as they most assuredly will never receive the support of the country. Per, nit us also to express our conviction, that those who have proved themselves to be the most persevering iitel inveterate opponents of the great measure of Parliamentary Re. form ought to be looked upon as unsafe depositories of the power of carrying its pro- visions into effect, and of folluvriag out the salutary principles which it involves, so indispensable to the good government and prosperity of the empire."
The Magistrates and Town-Council of Dumfries have adopted an address in the same spirit. And on Saturday a public meeting of the inhabitants was held, at which several energetic speeches were de- livered ; and an address to the King was agreed to, deploring his unhappy resolution to recall,the Tories, and assuring his Majesty, that in the present temper of men's minds it would be attended with great danger. It was also resolved that the Dumfries Political Union should be revived. At this meeting, General Sharpe, Member for the Dumfries District of Burghs, delivered a most Liberal speech, and was heartily applauded by his constituents. At Kincardine, Kirkcaldy, Leith, Haddington, Kinross, Cupar, Stirling, St. Andrew's, and many other places, proceedings of a similar kind to those which we have given above, have taken place. In short, the whole country is awakened to the necessity of exertion to "stop the Duke." It is worthy of remark, that while in England the rotten corporations are almost everywhere the main props of corrup- tion the Magistracy and Councils of the Scottish Burghs take the lead in denouncing Anti-Reforming rulers. The Reformers of Paisley, by a deputation of their towsmen at pre- sent residing in London, have presented to Mr. John Crawford, an elegant gold snuff-box, accompanied by an address, as "a slight testi- monial, and feeble expression of their esteem for his character as a Reformer, and their admiration of the manly, independent, and straight- forward manner in which he acted while candidate for the representa- tion of that town."
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