The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-26 00:00:00

VOTE BY BALLOT.

(From the Norwich Mercury.)
TO THE ELECTORS OF NORFOLK
Brother Electors.—Experience compels the belief
an honest upright Parliament cannot be elected until
some means are devised to prevent the enormous expense
Parliamentary candidates are compelled to submit to, in
order to have any probability of success. Electioneering.
Committees cannot bring forward Whig or Tory Candi-
dates, who stand highest in public estimation for business-
like ability and activity, who would think it a disgrace to
give or accept a bribe : such valuable individuals are
compelled to reply—" If freely elected, I would assi-
duously fulfil the important and arduous duty, but in
justice to my family, I cannot consent to expend many
thousand pounds to procure my election." The inevita-
ble consequence is, many individuals are brought forward,
not because, they stand highest in public estimation, but
because they are willing, from mere gambling specula-
tion, to expend the largest sum of money.
So long as elections are to be thus obtained, is it pos-
sible Government, however disposed, can abolish sine-
cure and useless places, or give appointments to the in-
dividuals best qualified to perform the office ? Can it
be thought, Electors, if unallured by bribery, or borne
down by intimidation, are so devoid of common sense as
to be unmindful of the candidates' habits of mind or qua-
lifications ? The advocates for " Vote by Ballot" are
told secret voting is cowardly and un-English ! To such
objection we would reply, is it not cruel and un-English
to enact very severe laws against bribery, also compel-
ling the elector to make oath he gives his vote of his
own free will, without expectation of reward or advan-
sage ; and at the same time compelling tenants, trades-
men, &c., to vote contrary to their wishes, or otherwise
be compelled to quit their farms or forfeit their custom,
their only alternative to incur the awful guilt of perjury,
or submit to great pecuniary loss, and in some cases ab-
solute ruin ? It appears evident gentlemen of " upright
intentions" require the protection of the Ballot in an
equal degree with the electors, as, in the—
First place. The enormous expense attending a
contested election would be greatly diminished, and.
uproar and confusion avoided.
Secondly. Gentlemen of known ability, business-like
habits, and strict integrity, assuredly stand highest in
public estimation, and must be sought after and
brought forward, either in the Whig or Tory interest,
weight of character inducing more votes than mere
wealth, if devoid of character or the requisite ability.
Thirdly. Poor freemen, and it may be small trades-
men, when visited ley long-continued illness, want of
employ, or unusually large families, being from those
causes at times compelled to ask for parish assist-
ance, who can prove before the Revising Barrister
such has been the cause, and not depraved habits
or indolence, but are men of upright industrious
character, and of good natural ability, such per-
sons it is cruel and unjust to consider degraded
from the rank they "otheiwise held ; and if their vote
were given by Ballot, they are as capable of giving as
independent a vote as their wealthier townsmen. The
working class of society justly complain they have no
share in choosing Representatives, to whose legislative
authority they are required to submit ; but if" Vote by
Ballot" becomes the law of the land, tests may be devised
to admit well educated poor men to the right of voting.
Fourthly. All persons convicted of crime, or of de-
frauding their creditors, should for a long or short period
be considered unworthy of the honourable privilege.
I think, brother electors, from what I have written,
you will think with me, and give your vote in favour of
the Ballot.

I therefore subscribe myself,
A NORFOLK FREEHOLDER.

MONK LEWIS'S LIFE, CORRESPONDENCE
AND POSTHUMOUS WhlTlNGS.—lndependently of the in.
terest attached to the memoirs of this distinguished person,
these volumes will be read with much amusement, on
account of the great number of original effusions from his
pen, in prose and verse, now first brought to light. The
following is a pretty accurate summary, of them :—A
Matrimonial Duet—The Clerical Musician—A Nancy
Story—Song intended to have been sung in the Castle
Spectre—The Village Conjuror—Love and Time—Lines
for the Collar of Lady C. Campbell's Dog—The Con-
soler—The Lost Shilling—The Effusions of Sensibility—
The Blind Lover—Dana—Bout's Rimes—The True
History of a Little Old Woman—Lines written in an
answer to a Note addressed " Au Juif errant"—The Horse
Guard's Penelope—John Grundy's Advertisement—Alatar
—Mars and Cupid—Lines written in Bouheur's "Art de
!aim penser"—Bill Jones—The Princess and the Slave—
Parody on the First Ode of Anacreon—The Loss of
Alhama—The Tailor's Wife—Elver's Huh—The English
Kings—Papa's Nose—Scaripante's Complaint— Zayde and
Zayda, &c. &c.
We understand an invoice has been received of
ninety-five chests of Assam Tea, which may be very shortly
expected in this country. This tea has been put on board
ship in Calcutta in the best possible order, and has not
required to be dried a second time, as was the case with
the Assam Tea received in the winter. The growth of
tea within the British dominions in India has obtained
additional importance, in consequence of the present state
of our relations with the Chinese empire.
CATTLE SHooTING.—For the last few months
the gentlemen and farmers of the parish of Buxton, have
been much alarmed and injured by a series of the most dia-
bolical acts of villainy, namely, the shooting of horses,
cows, &c., in the dead of the night: Various means had
been employed by the authorities of Buxton to detect the
offender but without success, when it was determined to
apply for the assistance of the Norwich Police, who at
length found the offender named Watts, who has been com-
mitted.—Norfolk Chronicle.
AN IRISH DUEL.—They stood about fourteen
yards asunder. Before they fired, Mr. Agar questioned
Mr. Flood about the pistols, in an cffensive manner. Mr.
Flood answered very deliberately, " You know I will not
answer you while you ask me in that manner." Mr. G.
Bushe, who was Mr. Flood's friend, said something to Mr.
Agar to induce him to ask in another manner, and not to
bring an affair upon himself so needlessly; but without
effect. He laid down one pistol, and rested the other on
his arm to take his aim. Both Mr. G. Bushe and Mr.
Roth, his own friend, called to him to fire fairly. Besides
the unfairness of using a rest, it was particularly unfair at
that time, for Mr. Agar had proposed they should stand
alongside a quickset hedge, but Mr. Roth declared, " there
should be no levelling." Upon their calling out he de-
sisted, and took another posture, and fired first and missed.
He then took up his other pistol, " Fire, you scoundrel l"
Mr. Flood thereupon presented his pistol, which he held
all this time with the muzzle turned upwards, and'shot Mr.
Agar through the heart. Mr. Agar's left breast was
towards him, Mr. Agar being left handed. He expired in
a few minutes without speaking anything articulate. The
Coroner's jury found the verdict specially—." That he came
by his death by a pistol bullet"—as appears more fully by
the examinations of Mr. Roth and Mr. Bushe,-..without
even mentioning Mr. Flood's name.—Grattan's Memoir's
by his Son Henry.