Ir has been matter of frequent remark, that the Parliamentary majori. ty by which Sir Robert Peel was driven from office, and on which the present Government depends for its precarious tenure of place, owes its existence to the votes of Scotch and Irish members. The disgraceful and un English proceeding of condemning the Conservative Ministry without a trial was marked with a degree of guilt with which the representatives of the southern portion of the island as a body are not chargeable. The constituencies to whom the right of popular election was most familiar did not so abuse the trust committed to them, as to countenance conduct, the folly of which was equalled only by its wickedness. Had the issue of the struggle between the Conservatives and Destructives depended on the result of the elections in England, the triumph of the friends of the Constitution had been secure. And if ignorance and prejudice have for a time prevailed over sound political wisdom, and a coalition the most infamous that ever disgraced the annals of this country, has for the present succeeded in usurping the seat of Government, the blame is attachable-not to the representatives of the worth, property, and intelligence of the land, but to the pledged delegates who retail within the walls of St Stephens the seditious sentiments of Irish Catholics and Scotch Radicals.

The evil in regard to Ireland admits of explanation more easily, we fear, than of remedy. The fatal measure of Catholic Emancipation gave to the priesthood in that country a power, which it was the effect-if not the object-of the Reform Bill to consolidate and increase. Every subsequent act of the Government has served to strengthen the influence of O'Connell and his auxiliaries the priests. Even before the openly avowed "compact" between the rump of the Whig Ministry and the Popish party, two-fifths of the Irish members were the representatives, not of the people of Ireland, but of the Lord of Derrinane Abbey. And the vast accession of power with which the possession of Government patron

VOL. XLI. NO. CCLVI.

age has armed the Agitator, may ground a fearful anticipation of the possibility of such a further increase in the number of his adherents, as may lead some to adopt the anti-national project of the repeal of the unionand that for the very reason which O'Connell assigns for abandoning its agitation-namely, the supremacy of the Irish party in the British legislature.

But what shall be said of Scotland? Where shall we look for the causes that have secured for our own country a foremost place in the ranks of revolution? Ignorance cannot be pleaded as an excuse for error, in a country where education, and that of the best kind, has for centuries been within the reach of the poorest of the people. Here there are no religious animosities to be allayed-no powerful influences against which the friends of the constitution have to contend. The Aristocracy are by an overwhelming majority Conservative. Witness the result of every election of Peers. The higher ranks generally entertain similar opinions. No manbe his own politics what they may, can have moved in good society in Scotland, without remarking the almost invariable prevalence of such sentiments among the influential classes. A vast proportion of the wealth of the country-a still larger proportion of the land, is in the hands of the Tory party. In the church-the universities the legal profession-the monied interest-in each of these the Conservatives outnumber their Liberal opponents by at least three to one. The very tone and temper of the national character-quick and ardent in the pursuit of truth, but proverbially tenacious of opinions once received and cherished-would seem to furnish a guarantee against the people of this country being made the dupes of political agitation. To crown all, the influence of religion-stronger here than among our southern neighbours-and that warm attachment to the Established Church which still exists, especially in the minds of the rural population, might have grounded a hope that the electors throughout Scotland would have been found supporting, by

a large majority, the cause of peace, and order, and good government, and occupying the foremost ranks of the Opposition to the present anti-national and anti-Christian administration. But although all these things are as we have described them, although the education-the intelligence the rank the wealth-the influence the moral feelings, and the religious principles of the country are all arrayed in defence of the constitution-these powerful weapons have hitherto proved insufficient, with which to combat the demon of democracy. Of the thirty members returned at the last general election by the counties of Scotland, one-half only were chosen on account of their Conservative principles, while the burgh representation, extending to twentythree seats, is, with one honourable exception, monopolized by the WhigRadical party.

The preponderance thus obtained by the enemies of the Constitution in this part of the island is doubtless to be traced to causes of very temporary operation. The novelty of the electoral privilege was in itself a powerful impediment to its proper exercise. Those on whom the measure of Lord John Russell conferred the franchise, were naturally induced, by motives which we can scarcely blame, to limit themselves, in the first enjoyment of their new right, to the choice of those by whose influence it had been secured to them. A vote given against the Reform Bill at any of its stages, however patriotic and conscientious were the motives by which it was dictated, formed in the eyes of many constituencies, a stigma which no individual fitness for the office of a Parliamentary representative was able to efface; and when to this disadvantage, against which almost every Conservative candidate had to contend, is added the effect of the visionary expectations artfully instilled into the popular mind of the indefinite benefits which would accrue from the continuance in office of a Reform Ministry, we can scarcely be surprised that in the elections of 1832, and even to a certain extent in those of 1835, shallow selfconceit and empty declamation were in many instances preferred to sound principle, tried worth, and great senatorial ability, and the natural influence of talent-of rank—of fortune-of character-of local and family connexion overborne for a time by popular excite

But

ment and plebeian intimidation. before the dismissal of Lord Melbourne's government in November 1834, the disease had begun to work out its own remedy. The Whigs were not four years in office without affording proof enough, that if grasping nepotism, open violation of the most solemn pledges, and selfish clinging to place, at whatever sacrifice, are the characteristics of any political party, they are not exclusively at least, the qualities of the Conservatives. The people of England learned long ago that the loudest professions of friendship afford no test by which to ascertain who are their true friends. Experience had begun to teach the electors throughout Scotland the same lesson. Doubts were suggested whether those whose conduct in every relation of private life had been unexceptionable, who were the kindest of landlords-the most indulgent of masters-the best of neighbours-were really deserving, on account of their public principles, of being assailed with abuse, pelted with mud, and burned in effigy. Long cherished feelings of private gratitude and personal esteem were beginning once more to assert the place among the motives of human action, which was for a time usurped by vague ideas of universal philanthropy, and a cordial attachment to the institutions of the country in Church and State, combined with a strong sense of the real identity of the best interests of the various classes of the community, were gradually substituting themselves for the senseless love of change, and the feverish desire for speculative improve

ments.

It cannot be doubted that the events of the last eighteen months have greatly accelerated the return of the public mind in Scotland to Conservative principles. An enlightened abhorrence of the tenets of Popery has ever been a marked feature in the religious character of the people of Scotland; and a measure, acknowledged by the Prime Minister himself to be " a heavy blow to Protestantism," was not likely to find favour in the eyes of the adherents of a church planted by Knox. One of the ablest of that Church's Theologians and certainly the most eloquent of her preachers, has openly declared his conviction that her interests are not safe in the hands of a government maintaining the principle of appropriation. The effect which such a declaration-from so high a

quarter-is likely to produce in opening the eyes of the Scottish people to the unprincipled designs of the government, was virtually acknowledged by the coarse and brutal invective with which the venerated name of Chalmers was in consequence assailed by the Ministerial press. But the reverend Doctor only spoke the sentiments of every educated man not swayed by self-interest, or blinded by party prejudice. Go where we will, we find many who were the strenuous supporters of the Reform bill, and the willing adherents of Earl Grey's government, but who are now engaged heart and hand in maintaining the Conservative cause. Those at a distance can have no idea of the extent of the reaction which has taken place in Scotland since the reform fever in 1832. The counties of Edinburgh, Stirling, Berwick, Roxburgh, Selkirk, Inverness, and Orkney, afford examples of constituencies among whom representatives of Conservative principles have already supplanted those of opposite sentiments, who were the first objects of their choice. In the event of another general election, Haddington would regain the character which, from accidental circumstances, it lost at the dissolution of 1835. Dumfries, Wigton, and Caithness would allow their present members to retain their seats only because, though Reformers in 1832, they are now opponents of the Melbourne Government while the list of new acquisitions of territory to the Conservative cause would, we believe, be swelled by the addition of Perthshire, Ross-shire, Sutherland, Argyleshire, Lanark, Renfrew, and Dumbarton.

We are far from wishing that these anticipations of future success should create in the minds of the individuals of our party any thing like a feeling of security or over-confidence, or induce them in any degree to relax their exertions in the cause of good government. On the contrary, our expectations of future good are all founded, it will be observed, on an acknowledgment of past evil; and it is because we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact, that a portion at least of the ill success which attended the Conservative cause at the first popular election in Scotland, was to be traced to the errors of the Conservative party themselves, that we are anxious, with all sincerity and plainness, to declare to

the individuals of that party our conviction, that nothing but an immediate and final abandonment of these errors will permanently secure for them that prominent place in the scale of political importance, to which they are on every account so well entitled.

The fundamental mistake into which, as it humbly appears to us, the majority of the Conservative party have more or less fallen, consists in their failing to perceive in its full extent the nature of the change, which the passing of the Reform Act has effected, in the practical working of political affairs. Nothing has illustrated the pre-eminent abilities of the great leader of our party Sir Robert Peel, so much as the admirable tact with which he has adapted himself to the extensive modifications, which the British Constitution underwent by the measure of 1832. Nothing certainly could have more entirely confounded our opponents, who in framing the Reform Bill, intended to construct a machine, the management of which should be as a sealed book to all except themselves. And it is by a similar line of conduct, adopted by every member of the Conservative party in his own sphere, that the triumph of right principles will be secured in the counties, and ultimately even in the burghs of Scotland.

Perhaps the most prominent change effected by the working of the Reform Act, is in the constitution of the House of Commons, and consequently in the office of a Parliamentary representative. A seat in Parliament is not now, as heretofore, an object of ambition in the eyes of almost every man of fortune and family in the kingdom. The privilege of sitting on the same bench with Mr O'Connell and Mr Gully is a distinction which few men will be inclined to value very highly. Nor will the pleasure derivable from listening to the eloquence of Mr Hume or Mr Poulett Thompson, be considered by many a sufficient recompense for the cares and toils of a Parliamentary life. To the needy adventurers who resort to politics as a trade, it may matter little of what materials the House of Commons is composed. But to those who hold a certain station in society, to men of cultivated taste and refined habits, who can appreciate the pleasures of intellectual

and literary pursuits, and whose position in life imposes upon them the performance of varied and interesting social duties, the nature of the companionship to which a seat in Parliament is to introduce them, cannot, under any circumstances, be a matter of indifference. It is of such men that the Conservative party in the House of Commons is composed. Even to the leaders of that party, it must be no small sacrifice, to renounce the tranquillity of domestic life, and the many sources of enjoyment which leisure, and affluence, and the consciousness of intellectual vigour, and local and personal influence open up to their possessors, for the laborious and often thankless duties of the public service. And if in their case, the laudable ambition of filling places of trust in the Executive Government may be supposed to afford some inducement for the devotion of their time and talents to Parliamentary life, no such object is presented to the great body of Conservative members. It is impossible, therefore, too highly to appreciate the vast sacrifice of personal gratification which is made by these gentlemen, who, from a single and disinterested desire to promote the public good, devote season after season to a pursuit, which in the present state of the House of Commons, can have few charms for a man of taste and intellect, and the toil of which is scarcely equalled by the drudgery of a laborious profession.

Let it not be supposed that these remarks are intended to afford an apology for those men-of whom we fear there are some-who refuse to avail themselves of any opportunities of serving their country with which Providence has furnished them. By the laws of Solon, non-interference in civil broils was accounted a crime. And in a season of national danger and difficulty, such as that in which this country is at present involved, we hold that man highly culpable, who from any motive, whether of selfish indulgence or mistaken diffidence, denies to the public the exercise of the talents which he possesses, or the employment of any degree of influence with which circumstances may invest him. If any county contains an individual, who from his political attainments, or personal popularity-from his own position, or his family connexions-is the most eligible candidate whom his

party could select-no considerations of a personal nature will justify such a man in refusing to obey the call of the constituency. But we are satisfied that if instances of a contrary line of conduct have occasionally occurred, the fault lies principally with the electors, who will not sufficiently perceive that in imposing on an independent country gentleman the office of their representative in Parliament, they are not so much conferring a favour, as exacting the performance of a duty, of which the sole benefit will be theirs, while the burden falls entirely on the object of their choice.

Professions of gratitude to their Parliamentary representatives are very frequent in the mouths of Conservative electors.

And to none is such a tribute so justly due, as to the members of a party who have no personal objects to serve, and whose public conduct is regulated by the purest and most disinterested motives. But do individuals of the party always evince by their conduct a conviction, that in estimating the relative amount of obligation between a body of electors and their representative, the balance is fearfully against the constituency? Do all act under the impression, that a zealous and conscientious member of Parliament confers an infinitely greater favour on those for whom he labours, than they conferred on him by placing him in that situation? Do personal dislikes, and private jealousies never interfere with that independent exercise of the franchise which every elector owes as a sacred duty to himself and his country, and which no selfish consideration ought ever to be permitted to influence or control? Under the old system of election, the existence of these or similar motives of action, if not excusable, were at least easily accounted for. The divisions which agitated the limited constituencies of those days were, in the general case, not so much political con tests, as family rivalries, and the votes of the freeholders were bestowed less in reference to party distinctions, than to private friendships, and personal connexions. But the contest is now between the great majority of the landed proprietors and their tenantry on the one side, and a few powerful Whig families, supported by the town and village voters, on the other. Nothing therefore can justify those, who calling themselves Conservatives, allow

their conduct in public matters to be influenced by inflated ideas of selfimportance, and their votes to be dictated by paltry jealousies, or corrupted by fancied slights and imaginary insults. A visit not duly returned, or a letter unanswered by return of post, is in the eyes of some men, a much deeper stain on the character of a member of Parliament, than an unprincipled vote, or absence on an important division. It matters not with what zeal and fidelity a representative attends to his duties in the House of Commons, - there will always be those among his constituents, who grudge him the enjoyment of every hour snatched from public business for the purposes of health and recreation, and to conciliate whom his whole vacation must be one protracted canvass, and his every domestic arrangement have no object in view but the support and extension of his political importance.

We are far from denying the obligation under which every Member of Parliament lies to stand well with his constituents. On the contrary, we admit, that every man who accepts that honourable office, is bound to make every exertion which may be necessary for retaining it.

But we demur altogether to the principle, by which this part of his duty is considered in any degree equal in importance to the right discharge of his legislative functions. And regarding the elective franchise as a trust reposed in individuals, not for their own benefit, but for the public good, we can find no apology for those who allow themselves to be influenced in its exercise by any consideration except the political principles of their representative, and his fitness to perform his parliamentary duties. If the mutual relations in which a Member of Parliament and his constituents stand to each other were rightly understood, any remissness or negligence on his part would be the most powerful argument for increased exertion and activity on theirs. The maintenance of the constitution, for which the Conservative party contend, is the cause not of the few, but of the many. Its defence is the duty of the electors as much as of their representative; and if those who are the loudest in their complaints of the negligence and inactivity of their Parliamentary leaders, are themselves the most backward to lend a helping

hand to the good cause-if the very conduct which they blame in others serves as an apology for their own indulgence in a similar error is it not to be feared that the class of men by whom the House of Commons ought to be filled will refuse to undertake a duty at once so irksome and so thankless, and that thus, instead of representatives selected from the landed aristocracy of the country, we shall be driven to the choice of political adventurers and speculating capitalists? The tendency of the state of public feeling in Scotland to produce such a result, is illustrated by a reference to the present representation of the Whig party, among whom the evil has been of more early growth, principally because their connexion with the resident gentry is slender indeed compared with that of the Conservatives. What connexion has Mr Maule with Perthshire? Mr Dennistoun with Dumbartonshire? Mr Maxwell with Lanarkshire? What are Mr Abercromby and Sir John Campbell's claims on the electors of Edinburgh-or Lord William Bentinck's on those of Glasgow ? What made Sir Henry Parnell member for Dundee, or Dr Bowring for Kilmarnock ? what but the impossibility of finding among the resident proprietors of similar political principles, men willing to submit, year after year, first, to all the drudgery of a parliamentary campaign, and afterwards to all the annoyances of a recess occupied in obeying the unreasonable exactions of a numerous constituency.

Another circumstance which has a tendency to produce the same effect, is the vast expense with which a seat in Parliament is in the ordinary case attended. The annual charge incurred by the Registration Courts alone, is a serious drain on the pocket of any representative; and when to this is added the frequent recurrence of election contests, the sacrifice is greater than the fortune of almost any commoner in Scotland can be expected to bear. In order, therefore, to prevent the evils which would flow from the introduction into our county and burgh seats, of political hacks from Downing Street, and purse-proud speculators from the Stock Exchange, it is absolutely necessary that a portion of the expense in every district should be contributed by these for whose benefit it is incurred. This is especially true, in regard to the annual revisal of