ment will prove bungled jobs, in not a few instances. People are not accustomed to elect a legislative body, for the sole purpose of representing the opinions, wishes, and intelligence of the nation. They are still haunted with the old folly of ranging themselves into parties, and inquiring, not who is the best man? but, will he strengthen our side? The Tories, of course, are banding themselves, for the purpose of expending their last venom. The Whigs have an ugly trick of suspecting, or pretending to suspect, the intentions of every man, who does not believe in the infallibility of their leaders. The Radicals-under which convenient and comprehensive term, the ministerialists include all who do not belong to one or other of the old parties, thus classifying together men of the most widely diverging principles and character-sometimes seem inclined to yield too tamely to dictation, and at others shew a tendency to bristle up into opposition without good cause. The great object with all true patriots ought to be, the selection of men of sound and thoroughgoing principles, business habits, and cool, but daring character. The times imperatively demand such men; but we fear, even the reformed Parliament will not be overstocked with them. In ENGLAND, the Whigs will, in all probability, carry the day. The men most in request, seem members of aristocratic families, who profess liberal opinions. A frank manner, a fluent tongue, and fair general promises, seem to go far with John Bull. He rarely inquires regarding the stock of knowledge, or the fitness for transacting business, possessed by those who ask his vote. The jobbers are taking advantage of this, and working man. fully, for the purpose of packing a Whig Parliament. Wherever a man of independent principles offers himself, he is sure to be assailed by the abuse of these creatures. By dint of good organization, unscrupulous chicane, and reckless concussion, the Tories have every prospect of mustering a tolerable minority. Mr Hume and Mr Roebuck are, we trust, secure of Middlesex and Bath, notwithstanding the unprincipled opposition making to them. Lancashire will return a strong body of Radicals-Cobbett among the rest. Birmingham is the portion of the Union. Leeds and Manchester have thrown themselves into the arms of the liberal portion of the ministry. The Whigs are yielding to the universal demand for the ballot, "with coy, reluctant, amorous delay;" and attachment to the cause of church reform, is professed by candidates of every colour. Globe, in one of its wheedling articles, praises the Dissenters for selecting their representatives from among the adherents of the established church. If the Dissenters deserve this praise, they are greater blockheads than we take them to be. In ScorLAND, the Whig interest will preponderate more decidedly than even in England. The concentration of all legal business in Edinburgh, and the prominent part which the lawyers of that city have all'along taken in

The

politics, have enabled the party to organize itself, and to spread its ramifications over the whole country. The Tory party is, if possible, still better drilled; and had they not sinned themselves out of all respect, might have given their old adversaries a shrewd shake. With a few exceptions, the population of the country are inclined blindly to follow the leading of those who have fought their battles. There is a fine spirit among them, but a sad lack of precise political knowledge. There seems also to be a sad lack of men fit to serve in Parliament, if we may judge by the characters of most of the popular candidates. They will be returned partly because of the zeal and activity of their partisans, partly because there are no better men to be had. Some exceptions there are. Edinburgh returns the Lord Advocate, out of gratitude for past services, Mr Abercromby, because it likes him. In the Linlithgow district of burghs, Mr Gillon has met with such unprincipled and mean opposition, as was to be looked for, by a man of his independent principles, at the hands of an aristocratic family; and in the Wigton district, particularly in Stranraer, the efforts of the Galloway family to keep up a close-burgh system, are of the most unblushing complexion. Lord Ormelie, we rejoice to say, will be carried in for Perthshire on the shoulders of feuars and dissenters, in spite of the most oppressive and dishonest tricks resorted to in the hopes of foiling him. His adversaries' machinations have recoiled upon themselves, serving only to irritate the insulted electors. Dumfriesshire was threatened with Lord Stormont ; but the younker found a storm was brewing, and wisely withdrew. The Dumfries burghs will fall to the most radical bidder. Mr Hannay speaks scholarly and wisely; but General Sharpe more precisely, and to the point. Poor Sir John Malcolm has invoked the spirits of his ancestors; but they cannot aid him. Glasgow has no paramount leaders, and will return the man whom the real majority wish. The result of the election is quite uncertain; but if Mr Crawfurd be not returned, our good friends of the West will have sadly stultified themselves. In Paisley, the contest lies between Sir John Maxwell and Mr Mackellar; but both are regarded as a pis-aller. The eminent editor of the Examiner was sounded as to whether he would stand for this burgh; but declined, on account of his weak state of health. The electors of Paisley might do worse than lie by, till they learn with some certainty what Mr Hume's prospects in Middlesex are. It would be a feather in their cap to have him for a member. Mr Oswald is secure of Ayrshire, and deserves to be so, on account of the manly way in which he went to work. A strange crotchet has seized some of the Kilmarnock electors. Their choice lies between a steady and consistent Whig and a young Lieutenant in the Guards, whose only public appearances, previous to the commencement of his canvass, were at the last Ayrshire election, where he voted for the Tory candidate, and at a meeting

of the freeholders of Kirkcudbright, where he supported a petition, introduced for the purpose of indirectly defeating the Reform Bill. And yet the Political Union has thrown itself into the arms of this youngster. We really expected more sense from the townsmen of Baird and M'Laren. Dundee promises to carry the Radical candidate through with a wet sheet. In the far Caithness, a Tory Sheriff, devoting himself, like a second Curtius, for his party, contests the county, in opposition to its present reforming representative, with the prospect of having to denude himself of his snug semi-sinecure, in the event of success. He has been rewarded with the promise of ten votes. The different ruses employed by the old faction, in order to bolster up a sinking cause, are instructive enough. In one burgh, a neighbouring farmer, whose garden was included within the boundary, run up a brick tenement upon it, a few weeks before the time fixed for the lodging of claims, and demanded to be registered. Nay, when the claim was discussed in court, an equivocating witness was produced, in the hopes that his oath to there having been an erection on the lands for upwards of a twelvemonth, might be left unsifted, and understood to mean the new house. In one county, an Edinburgh practitioner of the law claimed to vote upon a property which he sold nearly twenty years ago, having received part of the price at the time, and drawn regular interest for what remained owing. In a western burgh, the agents of the two contending parties agreed to remit the estimation of some houses, the value of which was disputed, to the decision of joint valuators. When these claims came to be disposed of, the agents of the conforming candidate gravely stated, that although they were determined to abide by the decision of the valuators, the claimants insisted upon being heard for themselves. And these very agents proceeded to lead proof, in the name of the claimants. We could add many instances of a similar sort. We could, and without fear would, name place and person concerned in these we have adduced; but we think a better fate awarded them, when we let them,

Not even damn'd to everlasting fame,

Live without sex, and die without a name. Of the fifty-three Scottish members, ten will be Tories. In IRELAND, a veil of mystery hangs over the electioneering proceedings, which we do not presume to penetrate. Irish tactics are a pitch beyond us.

IRELAND. MR STANLEY.-MR O'CONNELL. THE WORKING OF THE COMMUTATION BILL. On the 24th of September, a letter was addressed to the Secretary for Ireland, from which what follows is an extract: What taxes are meant by municipal taxes,' which the Irish Reform Bill states must have been paid by each person, seeking the power of voting for a representative in Parliament? As the period for registering is so near at hand, it is of the utmost consequence that those persons who have given notice of their intention to regis

6

Those who

The clergy of the established church are endeavouring to delude ministers into the belief that the payment of tithe may still be enforced. They write the police bulletins, and uniformly represent the military as triumphant or the peasantry as submissive. Meanwhile Mr O'Connell has solemnly pronounced his opinion, that the crop is secured, valuation of tithe before the is illegal, and any intrusion into a field for that purpose is a trespass. may incline to call in question the law as laid down by the liberator, will do well to consult the evidence delivered by Gerald Fitzgerald, Esq. resident magistrate of police for the county of Tipperary, before the Tithe Committee. That gentleman shews that this is likewise the opinion of the Crown Counsel. The work goes on notwithstanding, and blood is daily shed in consequence, and the peasantry are driven to desperation. On the 29th of September an unsuccessful attempt was made to rescue the Walstown prisoners. On Wednesday the 3d of October, a public meeting of the parishes of Connalmay, Old Connell, Great Connell, and the vicinity, was held on the Curragh of Kildare, to petition for the abolition of tithes. Strong bodies of military and police were hovering in the neighbourhood, but did not interfere; and the assembly dispersed without any disturbance. Blood has been shed, in the county of Waterford, in an attempt to enforce the provisions of the new Tithe Bill. attorney in the county of Kildare has been forced to resign the office of tithe collector by the threatened secession of all his clients, and is now acting for the parishioners of Killin opposition to their incumbent. Another Dublin editor has been bound over in heavy recognisances to stand his trial for

An

alleged offences committed so far back as March last. The parties prosecuted for the anti-tithe meetings have been allowed to traverse until next session. This will never do.

SLAVE COLONIES.-The slave-holders are still determined to drive matters to the utmost. In the beginning of August, the Baptist preachers resident in Jamaica addressed the Earl of Musgrave. His Lordship observed, in his answer,-" With regard to any regulation touching the exercise of your sacred calling which the constitution may have reserved, I cannot too strongly recommend, on your parts, submissive deference, in the first place, to the decisions of those authorities to whom the administration of the law is intrusted, and who are themselves responsible for the due exercise of the functions committed to their charge.' A perspicuous commentary on this obscure text was published on the 8th of August. Subsequent to the cessation of martial law, Mr Kingdon, a Baptist missionary, took up his residence at Savannah-la-mar. The Northside union had previously declared that no Baptist preacher should in future be allowed to preach in the island. Representations to this effect were made to Mr Kingdon, and offers made to pay his passage money. A sense of duty forbade him to desert his sable flock. His house was attacked on the evening of the 8th, firearms were discharged on both sides, and finally the missionary was forced to abandon his house, which was "gutted from top to bottom." The same evening the house of the Messrs Deleon, friends of Mr Kingdon, was pulled down about the owners' ears; and on the following evening, two other persons of the Baptist persuasion were destroyed. On the 9th, Mr Kingdon was lodged in the common gaol; the Deleons, and some dozen more, were likewise committed. These transactions admirably illustrate the dark sayings of the Earl of Musgrave. While this frolic was acting in the West, the men of the East have not been idle. Mr Jeremie, author of a very temperate pamphlet on the subject of colonial slavery, was some time ago appointed Advocate-General and Protector of Slaves for the Mauritius. The white population were in arms to oppose his landing. On the 3d of June, he disembarked under the cover of several barges, each armed with an eighteen pounder. Sir Charles Colville, the governor, lost heart, however, and Mr Jeremie was under the necessity of reimbarking for England. Surely such open defiance of law and justice must drive ministers to take some decided step.

NEWFOUNDLAND. — The Newfoundland Royal Gazette of the 11th of September contains a copy of the proclamation for summoning a General Assembly, by which also the colony is subdivided into districts, and the qualification both of the electors and the members is determined. Every man who

*Is this English?

has attained the age of twenty-one years, and has occupied a house within the island, either as owner or tenant, for two years preceding the election, is eligible as a member of assembly. The qualification of an elector is exactly the same; but in this latter case, occupancy for one year is held to be sufficient.

CONTINENT OF EUROPE.

In FRANCE the Duchess of Berri has been decerned to be tried in absence, par contumace, before the Court of Assizes, by the Chamber of Accusation. The lady is said to be in the meantime snug at Frankfort on the Maine. An army of 25,000 was some time ago reported as assembled on the northeastern frontier, for the purpose of interfering in the affairs of Belgium. A fleet has been fitted out for the purpose of co-operating with the English in the investment of Antwerp. Soult is at last prime minister, and has issued (an order of the day, we had almost called it) a notification of the event to all counsellors of state and local magistrates. He declares," the system of policy adopted by my illustrious predecessor will be mine. It is the true national system-the two Chambers have declared it to be such." He afterwards assures his attentive auditors that "anarchy was conquered at Paris on the 5th and 6th of June by the noble devotedness of the national guards and the troops of the line." His views regarding foreign policy are thus oracularly expressed: "A government which makes itself regarded at home may, without danger, employ abroad a firm and independent policy. In concert with the powers, our allies, we shall urge the solution of all the great European questions. Our armies, ardent but docile, lend to our moderation the support of strength." This antithetical document is wound up by a pretty epigrammatic turn :-"It is in me an ancient habit to refer every thing to the honour of France." This ape of Napoleon will endeavour to keep a tight bridle-hand on the French people. They may enjoy quiet under him-but liberty! "Lord love ye, that is quite a different sort of thing."

Miguel's troops have at last mustered courage to attack Oporto. The town was furiously assaulted on Michaelmas day, and defended with difficulty. Pedro's affairs seem hopeless. Either the Portuguese nation is utterly spiritless, or it thinks the one brother as good as the other.

No decided step has yet been taken in GERMANY. HOLLAND and BELGIUM were threatening a few weeks ago to go together by the ears, conclusively, but nothing has been done on either side. Charles X. has by this time taken up his abode in his Austrian city of refuge. Francis of Austria, and Frederic William of Prussia, are to have an interview at Töplitz. Lord Durham has returned from Russia, via Berlin. Every thing is in uncertainty.

importance to trade-were great; that of wheat particularly so, and, of very superior quality. The accounts from the East Indies are better: trade was improving at Calcutta, where it had for some time been stagnant, and it continued to be in a favourable state at Bombay. Freights from the East Indies generally have been at very satisfactory rates for the ship owners, who have done, and are still doing, well. To the Continent of Europe, the business through the season has been considerable. On the whole, the foreign trade wears an encouraging aspect. Of course, every thing depends on the preservation of peace; the effect of war upon our trading interests would be desolating.

The WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE is in the same state of improvement as the cotton, though by no means enjoying high prosperity. The demand for the home market is good and regular. In some qualities of goods an advance of price has been obtained, equal to the advance in the raw material; but in others the manufacturer has not been reim

bursed for the rise in the price of wool. For the lower kinds of woollens there is a large demand, and at present superfine cloths sell better than they have done for many months past. The WORSTED STUFFS, FLANNEL, and BLANKET trades, continue active. An advance of wages has been given at Bradford and Rochdale. English long wool commands about the same price as it did last year; South Down wool is lower in price; and German wool, from the very short supply received this year, has advanced; yet it is actually dearer in some parts of Germany than in England, owing to the great demand of the German woollen manufacturers. At the Frankfort fair just ended, wool was 10 to 15 per cent dearer than at the spring fair.

THE REVENUE.-We have referred to the great improvement in the quarter's revenue. Its extent and the departments in which it has taken place, will be seen from the following table:

Thus the actual increase on the quarter is close upon £700,000; but, when it is taken into account that the candle tax, of which the annual produce was £480,000, came into the corresponding quarter of 1831, and is now repealed, there will appear to have been an improvement in the other branches of the revenue equal to £800,000. The increase of £356,388 in the customs, shews a material improvement in the foreign trade, at least in the quantity of our imports.

THE CORN LAWS.-Whilst some of our Tory contemporaries are endeavouring to deter the agricultural interest from supporting liberal candidates at the approaching

election, by stating the possibility that such candidates will advocate a change in the Corn Laws, and that the present Ministry are meditating such a change; one of the wealthiest and most truly noble of the landed aristocracy is addressing his fellow "landowners of England," to convince them of the injustice and folly of the present laws against cheap bread. Milton has, on this subject, displayed that rare disinterestedness, that superiority to prejudice, that independence and true patriotism, which led him, though educated an anti-reformer, and though heir to one of the largest borough properties in the kingdom,

Lord