LINCOLNSHIRE ELECTION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Magdalen College, Cambridge, 1st May 1831.
Stn—As a constant reader of your paper, and as a friend of civil and religious liberty to a far greater extent than is usually tolerated in Eng- land, allow me to express the painful feelings with which I have perused, in the last SPECTATOR, a paragraph relating to the election fir Lin- colnshire, and the Honourable C. A. W. Pelham. It is of the utmost importance that the real friends of Liberty and Reform slmuld under- stand one another on this momentous occasion ; and von will, therefore, pardon me for recalling to your memory, that Mr. Pelham, as the late member for Newton, candidly and warmly espoused the cause of Libe- rality from the first moment that he entered the House of Commons ; that he voted against the Duke of Wellingom on the question which drove his Administration from office; and that, on the night (7th March, 1831) when the member for Gattou attempted to defend the borough system, he came forward and declared, amidst the cheers of the House, that he was willing to sacrifice the seat he held, and all the ad- vantages he might derive from the present system, for the good of his country. Ile has constantly voted in favour of Lord John Russell's Bill ; against General Gascoyne's motion ; spoke in favour of the Bill at the Hampshire Reform meeting ; and will show himself to be, as his family have ever been, amongst the warmest and sincerest friends of English freedom and prosperity.
Allow me to hope, that, by your insertion of this letter in your next number, the freeholders of the county of Lincoln may learn, that in Mr. Pelham they will elect a representative who will advocate " King William's Bill " as " the most fair, just, and constitutional Reform" that has ever been offered to our country. I remain, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
HARRY LONGUEVILLE JONES.
[We had lost sight of the identity of the Honourable C.A.W. Pelham with the " Mr. Anderson Pelham " of last week, and were misled by the somewhat vague terms " fair, just, and constitutional Reform " which some persons have applied in hostility to "the Bill," We are quite satisfied that Mr. Pelham is a real and not a mock Reformer ; and we sincerely hope that our mistake may occasion none in Lincolnshire.]
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