The National Register.
London, England, 1817-09-08 00:00:00

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No. 500.—Vot. X.

POLITICAL DISQUISITION.

TO THE ELECTORS OF WESTMINSTER.

GENTLEMEN-lt has been very confidently asserted,
by those who are supposed to know something of the
matter, that you will soon be called upon to exercise
your elective franchise, one of your representatives
having resolved to relinquish that great trust which
you thought proper to confide to him, and which trust
was but recently renewed, under circumstances as
little honourab7e to himself as to von. It has, of
late years, been so much the fashion with those who are
called " zealous reformers," to hold you up to the rest
of the nation as an example of incorruptible integrity,
that whenever your elective right devolves upon you,
the eyes of your countrymen are naturally directed to-
wards you, anxious to discover whether the wisdom of
your choice will correspond with the high character
which you have obtained, in the estimation of the
friends of liberty.

With what prudence you have exercised your im-
portant right at all times, but more particularly since
the death of Mr. Fox, you yourselves can answer.—
Mankind, generally, estimate the future by the expe-
rience of the past, and this is, probably, the reason
why many, even of your own body, look forward with
something very like apprehension, to the next object of
your choice ; for they cannot help remembering, that,
although uncorrupt, and enjoying the reputation of
superior patriotism, you have at various times given
your suffrages to men whose public, as well as private
characters were not of the most immaculate descrip-
tion. And in the present instance they are more than
usually anxious, as a report has been very industriously
circulated, that a gentleman in the sister kingdom,
whose name has more than once been before the public
under peculiarly unfortunate circumstances, is to be-
come the object of your favour and protection.
if you, alone, were interested in the choice of a
person to represent you in Parliament, it were the
height of folly and presumption in any one to offer you
a syllable of advice as to the line of conduct to be pur-
sued; and it would look very like impertinence in uu
to enquire with what discretion you had hitherto ex-
ercised your rights ; but as not you alone, but the
kingdom at large, have a claim upon the services of your
representatives, and as you are continually held up as
an example of the benefits to be derived film a reform
in the representaticn, I conceive that 1. have a fair
right, not only to give you my free opinion as to your
future course, but also upon the example which you
and your representatives have given to the other parts
of the country. To do this, it will he necessary to
look back a little into your history, and pass the va-
rious objects of your idolatry in review, by which
means I shall be better able to show how far your ex-
ample has been beneficial to the country, and, mea-
suring, your patriotism and discretion by the benefits
they have producA, we shall be able to appreciate the
',due of that superior freedom in your elective rights,
which is so constantly held up to the admiration of the
less fortunate parts of the community.
It has been pretty much the practice, in Westmin-
ster, to choose the-two members out of the opposite
parties in politics. 'ibis practice was not the result of
any concerted Oen, but arose out of the nature of pub-
lie feeling. The lower classes of the electors being
generally hostile to the existing ministry, were ever
ready to choose :him who should vilify that ministry
the most ; and the middle and higher classes, be-
tg almost always well disposed towards the esta-
blished order of things, and less under the influence of
passion, were equally anxious to elect that man who in
their estimation had deserved well of his countrv.—
Hence it arose that sine of your representatives has ge-