The Sun.
London, England, 1837-11-07 00:00:00

To the present Parliament—
Radicals.

Conservatives.

_.,_Fc.4.1,1;.,,YteY 0
0
2
_.... 1173 l.
' -
•i S.#.l
.. . . . 2
4L.ikat;
_kg
11.7gh
0
_
1 7
Thus only two Irt ars and a half ago the Radical re-
turns were' to-We Conservative in she proportion of 5
to 3 throuofont the East Riding of Yorkshire. The

1~: `~.:
/ ,'~i►~ .

Radical returns to the Conservative are at this mome►►t
1 to 7 ! and No reaction !'' We have seen the
comparative strength of the parties ; let us look for
one moment to the spirit which has animated one of
them. From spite—from pure spite, as it would seem
—for the cruel beating they experienced at Hull this
last election, the Radicals have suborned a worthy

citizen of theirs not to raise objections against Con-
servative voters, for, if grounds of fair objection
existed, it was quite right and just that they should
be brought forward and enforced—but to " object"
without having an " objection." Then, what was the
• practice of these excellent and honourable patriots ?
The whole number of Conservative voters was 1,530,

comprehending almost the entire property, intelligence,
and character of the borough. The Radical agent
o:►jected to no fewer than 1,510 of these votes r
" Never," said Sir Walter James, in his spirited,

judicious, and pointed speech, " never was defeat
more sorely felt, or mote vindictively resented."
The Hon. Baronet then, after offering_the above-

mentioned fact as to the number of-Conservative

voters, and of those, with so much stupid rancour ob-
jected to by the factious democrats, added—" But
what was the result of this malicious and discreditable

proceeding, this abuse of the privileges established by
the Reform Act ? Why, that the Radicals, who ob-
jected to 1,510 votes, did not sustain so many objec-
tions as the Conservatives, whose total number taken

against Radical votes was hut 114 :" Now, we hare
heard a good deal of fagot votes, but what shall be done
withfagot objections to votes indisputably and noto-
riously valid—raised for no purpose under Heaven,
save to obstruct, by profligate and shameful manoeuvres,
the constitutional enjoyment of that right which
" Reformers" have everlastingly cried up as the most
precious and sacred of all others—viz., the elective
franchise? Machinations of this kind have been tried
in every part of the empire, and in three cases out
of four have proceeded from your incorrupt and
prudish Radicals. Here then is one of the reforms
which are really wanted—here is a rooted and en-
venomed ulcer to be extirpated. Some decisive mea-
sure must be framed for securing the possessor of a
good vote the exercise of his sacred trust, and for
preventing or punishing the dishonest assumption of
the franchise through false representations and .unlaw-
ful practices. Such a measure must be adopted, unless
it be part of the Reform scheme to make the right of
election a farce, or the defence •of it a torment. In

Ireland the evil arising out of the law of registration
is such, that the foulest and most flagitious villainy
is the surest engine for commanding success : and he
who has the largest amount of perjury, forgery, and
multifarious wickedness at his disposal, with the
fewest scruples about the employment of them, is in
that civilized and religious region, and under the exist-
ing law, uncontrolled master of whatever seat in Ireland
he may please to fix upon for his political property.
A fagot vote, once suffered to pass in Ireland, can-
not, as in this country, be set aside within a twelve-
month : it endures for seven or eight years, except au
Election Committee of the House of Commons shall,
through some happy accident, pounce upon and de-
stroy it. Even in that case some convenient Revising
Barrister from the Mulgrave manufactory will set the
authority of that branch of Parliament at nought, and
reinstate the delinquents in the fruits of their exposed
rascality. We have no time to do more than point at-
tention to the speeches of Mr. 'Wilberforce and Sir
Walter James at the above meeting, and to express
our regret at the want of space, whic compels us for
the present to omit the eloquent and admirable ad-
chess of Mr. Hogg, a gentleman whose talents we
hope and trust will not be less effective in their in-
fluence on the House of Commons than in the im-
pression produced by them on those enlightened Con-
servatives who formed his audience in the East Riding.

—Times.
Individual cases of oppression for conscientious
voting at the late elections are of daily occurrence.
The Caledonian Mercury of Saturday contains a de-
tailed statement of the personal consequences which
have resulted to Mr. Johnson, a gentleman in the
county of Ayr, because he ventured to vote, accord.
ing to the dictates of his conscience, for Mr. Dunlop,
the Liberal candidate for the county. For this proof
of Mr. Johnson's honesty of character, Sir John
Cathcart, whose factor he had been for the last fifteen
years, dismissed him from his service. The Caledo-
nian Mercury, in referring to the matter, says—
" Mr. Johnson, a gentleman well known and Universally
respected in the county of Ayr, and particularly in the dis-
trict of Carrick, has been for tqe last fifteen years factor on
the estates of Carleton and Killochan, now the property of
Sir John Andrew Cathcart. He has discharged his duties
with the utmost fidelity, activity, and zeal, and his won the
grateful and affectionate esteem of all the tenantry by his
kindness and affability, while at the same time he has uni-
formly acted for the best interests of his employer, who
never found any fault with him, but, on the contrary, al-
ways expressed himself satisfied with the manner in which
his estates were managed. Up to the commencement of
the recent contest for the representation of the county be-
tween Mr. Dunlop, of Dunlop, and Lord Kelburne, the
best understanding continued to prevail ; in no single in-
stance has Sir John, up to this day, ever pretended to have
any reason to complain of the conduct of Mr. Johnson,
and he could make no such complaint with even the
shadow of a foundation, for every man in Carrick, landlord
or tenant, would join in declaring, that a more diligent,
more accurate, faithful, and conscientious factor, could not
possibly be found. But it was this very integrity, this
high moral principle, this deep-seated regard for conscien-
tious conviction, which has broken up the connection be-
tween the factor and his empl:iy,!r ; and the qualities which
rendered Mr. Johnson so estimable as a man, and so de-
serving of confidence and respect as a factor, have led to his
dismissal from his situation."
What short-sighted persons, even as regards their own
private affairs, these Tories are. What but :he blind-
ing and infatuating influence of violent party feeling,
could have closed Sir John Cathcart's eyes to the fact,
that the very circumstance of his factor, Mr. Johnson,
acting in this honest and conscientious way, was the
surest pledge he could have that Mr. Johnson was
equally honest and upright in all his transactions as his
factor ? Perhaps there never was a case in which aTory
landlord had less pretext for visiting with punishment
any one in his service for
,his political conduct, than
had Sir John Cathcart for thus punishing. his factor.
Mr. Johnson displayed nothing like violent partisan-
ship ;he did not take any active part in opposing the
Tory candidate ; he was nut a member of the Co:n-
mittee for promoting the election of the liberal gentle-
man ; neither did he ever canvass for him. Tire utmost
extent of iris interference in the elect:on was time regis-
tering his own conscientious vote in favour of the can-
didate of liberal principles ; and yet for this lie has lost
a situation which he held for the long period of iiftgen
years, with much credit to himself, and with acknow-
ledged satisfaction and advantage to his employer
Individually Mr. Johnson may be a loser, thoug;i we
should hope that some other landed proprietor may
have wisdom enough to see how great an acquisition
such a person would be on his estates, and conse-
quently take him into his service—individually, we say,
Mr. Johnson may be a loser by the harsh treatment
he has received at the hands of his late master ; but the
cause of Reform will be a gainer. His case affords
another proof—if, indeed, other proof were wanting—
of the urgent necessity that exists for the protection
.of
the Ballot. How long, let us ask, are honest men to
be thus punished for their integrity ; for it is honest
men only that will thus suffer for their principles?
Had Mr. Johnson been a man of a pliable conscience,
or rather a man of no conscience at all—had he, in
other words, been an unprincipled person—he would
have voted at once for the Tory candidate. But he is
an upright and conscientious man, and therefore it is
that he is now a sufferer. How long, we repeat, is
such a state of things to be allowed to exist ? How
long is the elective franchise to be made a positive
curse to a large proportion of the constituency of the
country ? If the protection of the ballot be not
speedily afforded to the electors, men will feel it a
duty they ewe to themselves and their families to dis-
qualify themselves for voting at elections, and thus the
Reform Bill will become a mere nonentity.—Morning
Advertiser.

In another part of our columns to-day will be found
an extract from the Dublin Evening Mail, confirma-
tory of the statement in the Standard, as to the sup-
pression, in the vice-regal chapel, Dublin, of that por-
tion of the church service appointed by law to be read
on the fifth ry. November, in ackowledgment of the na-
tional gratitude to Almighty Providence for the signal
deliverance of the nation from the " heavy blow" and