The National Register.
London, England, 1812-10-11 00:00:00

REGISTER.

titing, Constitution, ziiD

~..•411111ISTIED AT NO. 857, STRAI.D, CORNER Ok EXETER °CHANGE,.

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PRICE 9d-

If the electiyofranchise cuntribute,to ennoble the nature
of man, by making' him conscious of-his dignity and hie
!sights, thelimired duration of Parliaments, and the humilia,
tion which most pretenders must undergo in contested elec.
tiOns, to obtain their seats, are as many moral lessons that
cannot fail to instruct hip., The public spirit of a candidates
1?e very ardent- and sincere, or his ambition very great,
to induce him to submit to the numberless insults be ilk
certain to net with in the course of his exertions. He must
begin. by a disgusting, and not always a true panegyric, ow.
his own iodependencestnd abilities, which he holds out to get
votes, as a beggar 'does his hat, to receive alms from then
charitable. Welcomed by a few, rejected by some, mockedi
by (Awls, he next. appears on the hustings, in a situation.
little more'enviable than that of an offender in the pillory.
For Iw, too, must encounter the unrelenting fury of the
mob; and if he incurs less personal dangers, because none
but verbal missiles aft alloWed, Ft his character is aspersed.
and every mode is used to hurt his feelings and his pride.
Ilis whole life is dragged out to the light : his most secret
follies aorl vices are drawn. from their concealment, and,
Made to stalk threateningly before him. His honesty ia
publicly impeached, and if crimes are 'not irotioted to him,
Yet the most bitter taunts rain on him from all sides, until a,
long doubtful triumph, attended with enormous expense,
place him half ruined on the seat of his ambition, and either
throws him, (to secure a place that.will repair his losses) inter
the arms of the:Ministry, or raises in him an interested op-
, ponent,. to 'men, nut measures, .who, by the virulence of his_
abuse, disgraces his constituents, whilst he only seeks to be.
bribed into silence. ' •
Such is but too frequently the history of many candidates
and elections, and to numerous scenes of this nature will
the late dissolution of Parliament undoubtedly give birth:.
Already has party spirit marshalled her hosts in various
pal tsiof the country, and whilst, to the general astonishment
of the nation, Lord COCHRANE and Sir FRANCIS BURDETT
have been returned without the least opposition for the City
of Westminster, which a few. years ago their cla!mi
with uproar and disorder, the City c f London is become the
seat of an obstinate but evidently unavailing contest. Wei
were present at iluildhall when the candidates for Parlia-
montary honours were proposed, and the list of Aid! rams
was truly edifying. It seemed as though political ambition,
had smidenly stifled every. sense of civic appetite, and that in
thel, their ea,,r,erness to assume the heavy responsibility oegisla
tive duties, almost the wholesßoard had forgotten incbg.
gencies of case and frequent feasting which their habits real
einired to keep their cngstitution unimpaited,•and of which,
am
the length fit* ndern speeches,' that has terrified
Sid
en A 10.114 1.31W4t:
.00 an abandonment of. pu.1.44 We'
•