'SCOTCH REFORM SILL TO THE LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTI.A1%'11.
MY LORD—A letter having appeared in the Morning. Post of Monday; signed " An Independent Freeholder of Forfarshire," in which yoUr Lord- ship's political conduct is virulently abused, and the state of public feel- ing in Scotland generally, and more particularly in Forfarshire, grossly misrepresented, I, as a proprietor resident in that county, think that such an epistle should not go wholly unanswered. Feeling, as I do, the fullest confidence that your Lordship's high character requires no defence from me, nor indeed from any man, I shall address myself to that part of the " Independent Freeholder's" lucubration which has reference to the county wherewith I have the honour to be connected.
Passing over the three paragraphs of bombast introductory to the " Independent's" three grounds of objection to the Scotch Reform Bill, let us take these grounds seriatim.
1st. The " Independent " denies that Scotland generally regards the measure as either expedient or requisite : " notwithstanding," says he, " the assertion of an honourable member in the Lower House, and the subsequent observations of a noblelord in the Upper House;" meaning the Honourable Mr. Maule, member for Forfarshire, and Viscount Duncan. 1-140.v does he support this first objection ? By referring to the returns of pc. s elected to I(-present Scotland in the present Parliament ; which, be ti iutn pliantly • states, only show a mnjority of three in favour of the Bill. -Why, is not this very fact, that of the members returned under the present atrocious system, there is a majority, however small, in favour of
a measure which at once and for ever strikes at the root of that system, as strong a fact as could be adduced agairist the views of this same Free- holder ? He then goes on to say, that, in further proof of the Anti-Re- form state of feeling in Scotland, he is willing to take the state of Forfar- shire itself ; where, we are told, " the aggregate (11120:11118 Of the annual income of its landed proprietors amount to the sum of 220,0001. ; of which 120001. belongs to the individuals whose petition against the Bill was presented to Parliament, leaving thereby an excess of' 20,CCO1. per an- num on the side of those who fearlessly came forward to oppose their sentiments to the present measure of Scotch Reform." This astounding statement is a sufficient proof that the aerial Freeholder (for so 1 have good reason to think him) is at all events independent of the vulgar trammels of truth and honesty. Allowing the animal rental to be correctly given at 220,000/. per annum, I distinctly and positively deny, that the Anti-. Reformers are in possession of 120,0001. of the same ; for, by a calculation made from authentic data, the aggregate rental of the petitioners is, at the very utmost, 48,2001. per annum, and I doubt not that every shilling they draw over and above this sum may be given to their " Independent" adrocate, without defraying his nocturnal consumption of malt. On the Reform side, we have one estate in Forfarshire, which, of itself, exceeds this last and only true estimate of the Anti-Reform property of the county. A scribbler, whose facts are of the nature just exposed, may very naturally indulge in vituperation—may talk of the " arrogance" and " misrepresentation" of the advocates of the measure, with your Lord- ship at their head : we know, and the people of Scotland know, such abuse to be mere "— sound and fury,
Signifying not hing."
But the Freeholder, after having 'written there big and unimportant 'words, feels, like Bob Acres, a " sort of valour" rising, and 'odd's triggers I." he ventures to attack the statement of Mr. Maule andLord Duncan, with reference to the county meeting at which the Anti-Re- formers were defeated. That his Lordship, in the dignified assembly of which he is a member, and that the honourable gentleman, from that seat which for ten successive Parliaments he has filed with the highest honour and consistency, should have attempted to mislead the public with reference to facts of which they could not have been ignorant, is a brilliant idea, worthy of the brain of
" an • Independent' rambling on
In silly fumigation, fancy free I"
I pledge myself to come forward by name, if necessary, to prove the accuracy of the representation made by Lord Duncan and Mr. Maule concerning a meeting at which I had the pleasure of assisting, and of witnessing the resolutions of the Anti-Reformers (who, be it remembered, had canvassed the whole county) rejected, and an amendment adopted in favour of Reform by a majority of CO to 24 of the really independent free- holders of Forfarshire. And such being the case, how could the noble lord or the honourable member sit quietly by at the presentation of a petition misrepresenting the wishes and feeling of the county ? 2nd. The " Independent's" second ground of objection is, that "your Lordship has proceeded on a supposed equalization of the standard value of property in England and Scotland, as constituting the basis of the elective qualification in burghs in the latter, which he holds to be a most erroneous calculation." And how does he support this second objection? By asserting that almost every one of the Lontlen householders will be included in the 10/. qualification, while in Edinburgh not more than one in four will possess houses of that value, and that in the smaller towns the disproportion will be as one to one hundred. But is the " Indepen- dent" blind to the incalculable benefit that must result from taking the representation of Edinburgh out of the hands of a despicable junta of thirty-three individuals, delivered over, body and soul; to the Dundas dynasty; and giving it to a respectable, unbiassed constituency of 9,385? Is he ignorant that Glasgow, which at present has but time fourth or fifth part of a member, will, by the Bill, have two members returned by a constituency of 6,357? that Aberdeen, now having but the fifth part of a member, will, by the Bill, have one member returned by a con- stituency of 1,106? arid so on in a just gradation. These are facts which, however unimportant in the eyes of the Independent advocate of corrup- tion, have received the unanimous, grateful, and enthusiastic acknow- ledgment of Scotland, and especially of the middle and manufacturing classes of that industrious and prosperous country.
3. This third objection is a gent in its way. I shall therefore copy it verbatim.
" Your Bill proposes to extend the right of voting to a class of persons whose sentiments in its favour have never been publicly declared, but on the contrary, as individuals, have been expressed hostile to such provisions." In opposition to this formidable body of " individualized sentiments," I beg to quote the fact, that of the fifteen districts of rotten boroughs in Scotland, twelve returned members favourable to the Reform Bill—a suf- ficiently public declaration, one would think, against the present abomi- nable system, and in favour of one which must of necessity annihilate that pernicious family influence so long the degradation and curse of Scotland. The people of that country, my Lord, are deeply. sensible of the blessings to he anticipated from the measures at present in progress ; and however their now fawning foes may " nibble, dribble, scribble" on the details' of the Bill, the Nation looks'with confidence to its passing into 'a law, and with grateful satisfaction to your Lordship's incessant exert tions for the honour and welfare of your country. Before I conclude, I cannot but notice a passage in the "Independent's" letter, equally illustrative of the natural elegance and prodigious polish of his mind. He says, " the 17,000 ragamuffins that signed the Edinburgh petition-from which, I mean, however, to except a small fractional part of the respectable classes-will know how to estimate the political con- sistency of the Lord Advocate," &c. 0 rare ! Here we have the " respect- able classes" forming a portion of 17,001 ragamuffins, and only " a small fractional part" of these respectable classes to he excepted from the im- putation of belonging to the said 17,000 ragamuffins I ! Really if the "In- dependent" speaks thus " scholarly and wisely" of his countrymen, we shall begin to question his claim to the title of " L'ami du people," which in private has been claimed for him.
Hoping your Lordship will excuse the length into which these remarks have run, I remain, my Lord, your Lordship's faithful servant,
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