The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-24 00:00:00

you are going to reform yourselves because public
opinion demands it: I therefore prohibit you from
making the slightest change in the compos►t►on of
your Honourable House, because your doing so
would be a proof of your readiness to comply with
the national feeling, and therefore a proof that no
Reform was requisite!" Very good indeed : Strad-
ling versus Stiles is beaten hollow. Then those who
deem it matter of offence that Gatton, which just
contains five voters, should send as many represen-
tatives to Parliament as any place in England, ex-
cept Yorkshire and London, while Manchester, the
second town in the kingdom as to population, is
wholly unrepresented,—such meddling persons are
superciliously put by as mere dilettanti lovers of sym-
metry and system ! with no sort of reference to the
use of things. Throughout we must observe of this
knight-errant, that when he alludes to the benefits
of the existing Constitution, he means the benefits
derived from it by the aristocracy alone—that is, by
the class whose persevering and notorious efforts to
monopolize those benefits are held by 49•5Otbs of
the nation to be the one great cause, and indeed the
main essence, of all abuses for which a Reform of
Parliament is looked upon as the proper and only
remedy—that remedy which alone can prevent the
recurrence of the evil. An attempt is made to
bolster up the fitness and efficiency of the general
mass cfagents employed by English Ministers under
the present system, in domestic affairs and foreign
We believe that no nation on the face of the globe
pays so high a price to such a crowd of functiona-
ries, and has its business executed in a manner more
scandalously incomplete. How can it be otherwise,
when irresponsible borough patrons can dictate to the
Government how many Eons, brothers, and cousins
of grandees it shall employ ? But, indeed, there is
no prejudice so old arid desperate,—there is no abuse
of the public purse, or public authority, so enormous
—there is no vice, or extravagance, or folly, so con.
temptible,—that finds not ample shelter beneath the
wings of this champion of the Holy Alliance..-Times.
Among the reforms which the Lord Chancellor
proposes to introduce into the Courts of Equity, one
of the soundest in principle, and most beneficial in
practice, is the substitution of viva voce testimony
for written evidence obtained through the medium
of written interrogatories. It has long been admit-
ted that open and public examination► of witnesses
in Court, confronted with each other, and in the
presence ofJudge and Jury, who are to estimate the
value of their evidence, is the best mode of coming
at truth :in a Court of Justice that human wisdom
ever devised; and yet, to the discredit of the Chan-
cery system, and the disadvantage of the public,
another practice with regard to evidence has been
allowed, from time immemorial, to prevail in Courts
of Equity. Now, it is clear that, if the mode of
taking evidence in Courts of Common Law be the
best, the very different mode practised in Courts of
Equity cannot also be the best ; but it is equally cer-
tain that the right investigation of truth is as neces•
sary to just decisions in Courts of Equity as in
Courts of Law, and therefore the best mode of in-
vestigating truth, or, in other words, of ascertain-
ing the facts of a case by evidence, should prevail
in the former Courts as well as in the latter. The
reason of the difference arises from the difference

in the origin of both jurisdictions. The Common
Law Courts are indigenous to the country—they
are the offspring of the homely wisdom of our
Saxon ancestors, matured and improved by the
suggestions of long experience; but the Courts
of Equity, like the Ecclesiastical Courts, are of fo-
reign importation. They are exotics to the soil, and
have been transplanted into England from the insti-
tutions of Imperial and Pontifical Rome, with their
own peculiar principles relative to the administra-
tion of justice, which, though endured among us far
ages, have never been Naturalised, and, indeed, never
can assimilate with the native principles of our con-
stitutional jurisprudence. To revolutionize this sys-
tem altogether—to sweep away the un-English
maxims, the inquisitorial and arbitrary power—the
absurd subtleties or practice, and rapacious exac-
tions connected with it, would be a task worthy of
a man inspired by the noble ambition to earn a pure
and immortal fame by services of the most splendid
utility to his country. The talents and the indefa-
tigable energy of Lord Brougham rendered him
equal to the task. His inclinations are, we believe,
for a complete and thorough Reform, and if he have
the moral intrepidity to persevere in the course he
has commenced, and dbes not allow himself to be
turned aside from this great object by the little cen-
sure of pedantic cavillers or the interested clamour
of the venal supporters of abuse, he will achieve
a work which will cause his name to be held in
enlightened admiration as the benefactor of a people,
when the perishable conflicts of party shall have
been forgotten. As to the details of his plan, as
far as they are yet explained, this is not the time to
criticise or review them ; but to most of the prin-
ciples which he proposes to act upon we can give
our unqualified praise, The setting aside the pre-
sent lists of Commissioners of Bankrupts, and sepa-
rating the jurisdiction in bankruptcy from the Court
over which be presides, is an alteration of which
the necessity has been long felt by the public, but
which takes from the office of Lord Chancellor a
quantity of profit and patronage which none of those
who liere•ofore held the Great Seal were willing to
resign. If a truly efficient Court be formed upon
the ruins of the present bankruptcy jurisdiction, it
will he one of the greatest advantages that the mer-
cantile population of this country could possibly de-
rive from the reforming energy of judicious and
honest legislation. The abolition of fees, and those
bribes which arc called by the
turtles, will remove from Chancery the reproach of
the " itching palm," which is t gentle name of gra-
tuities,
scandal of Courts
where justice should not only be enthroned in wis-
dom but served in purity, and will do away with the
habitual violation of that noble maxim of Magna
C'harta—nulli vendemus jastitiam.—Morn. Herald.
As the day approaches on which the Minis'erial
plan of Reform is to be laid before the Legislature,
the various parties in the State who entertain fixed
opinions upon the subject, evince proportionate anx-
iety to impress the public with a conviction of the
truth and practicability of their different theories
for the amendment of the representation; and we
have now before us a host of pamphlets, besides
some s;ores of letters, in some of which the main-
tenance of " the venerable institutions" of our an-
cestors is advocated—in others the extension of the
e'ective suffrage to such unrepresent,rl towns as
Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, &c.; and in tli
semaindrir universal suffrage, vote by ballot, trien-
nia? and Klima! Parliaments, &c. a word, there
appears to exist every shade mid variety of opinion
on the subject of the Parliamentary Reform which
ought to take place; but taking an aver; age of the
votes for the one and the other, as they would ap-
pear from the letters and pamphlets before us, we
might sa.;-1.!7 say that those in favour of Reform are
a thousand to one, ac cemoared with those against
it; arid, in like manner, that these ;to proportion,
in point of numbers, between those whe)
trienr,ia/ Parliaments, vote by ballot, and a loWer-.
ing of ;the 4yalifica, ion to every householder, and
those who, on the Othe;' ha 44, ei,slits desire a more
extensive, or wish for a nurse mod6.ar e Ref 0.01.77.
31-urn/rig Advertiser.

MA:TvrET,L,—The peculiar talent at making
points, and producing ;t;tlden and irresistible effects, so
characteristic of 1111. ROOK, 'haa never ',;:e,77. better exem-
plified than in "Maxwell," his latest produetroin. Io will,
sufCce to indicate a few of the felicitous hits : Godfrey
Moss's mat-a-proio,? intervention at the delicate moment
of the StoCkbroker'S se:,:epkt3 snit—young Maxwell's
hide-and-seek mancruvres and disasters in pzrtmit of his
fair incognita—the superlative Major Overalltlie piquant,
rernsa-;4 on English dinners, and the inimitable picture of•
that at the Painters, with the family fussiness, and all the
agonies of invitation, preparation, reception, apology, &c.—
The exploratory visit to Mrs. Randolph at Berr:tandsey,
with the delineation of the localities of that remote region,
and the dwellers therein—the scenes of curious 'coincidence;
and provoking perplexity at the "Marine Villa" oecupiedl
by Mr. and Mrs. 'Apperton at Brighton—and the nume-'
lons passages in which Godfrey Moss, unique among hat-'
morists, is made to vent his amusing singularit'e3,

REFORM IN PARLIAMENT.

MEETING AT BURYTISLAND.

A most numerous meeting of the burgesses and inhabi-
tants of this burgh was held within the Town Hall, upon
Thursday the 16th December, on requisition from twelve
of the respectable inhabitants, addressed to William
Young, Esq., the Chief Magistrate, who most readily ac-
ceeded to the request, and was unanimously elected Chair-
man of the meeting.
Mr. CHARLES DICKSON, one of the present Magistrates,
rose amid great cheering, and said I have the honour of
introducing to the notice of this meeting the first resolu-
tion, which I will now read, premising only, before enter-
ing on its merits, I am a temperate and moderate Re-
former, and that I will yield to no one in loyalty and at-
tachment to the British Constitution.—(Applause.)—l
must likewise observe, that those who advocated universal
suffrage and annual Parliaments are not only the enemies
of, but throw ridicule and contempt on, constitutional Re-
form, and if their plans were carried nothing but anarchy
and confusion would be the result. 'flie resolution I pro-
pose is, that the state of the representation for Scotland
being now generally admitted to be defective, the mem-
bers for counties being elected solely by the holders of
superiorities, many of whom possess little or no interest in
the soil, only a very small number of the proprietors pos-
sessing the right of voting for Members of Parliament,
and the members for burghs being chosen by the Magis-
trates and Town Council, (who in general are nominated
by their predecessors) an ! from only a fractional part of
the community—that such an extension of the elective
franchise as shall include a fair proportion of the property
and intelligence of Scotland, and which shall tend to in-
fuse confidence in the community in their representation, is
manifestly just and expedient. The subject of the resolu-
tion which I have read embraces the very defective state
of the political franchise and representation, both for coun-
ties and burghs of Scotland. It seems palpably so when
I state to you that out of a population of nearly three
millions, there are only 2,000 or 3,000 voters for the
whole of Scotland. With respect to counties, it is a no-
torious fact, that the bulk of the voters have no interest in

the soil, the large landed proprietors dividing and splitting
the superiorities into parcels of 4001. Scots among their
friends and dependents, and thus qualifying a number of
voters who have no connection with the county. The
members for Scotch counties, then, are literally retut ned
by the undue influence of the aristocracy and large holders
of land. There are 33 counties which only return 30
Members to Parliament. It is not for me to say what
would be a fair r.•presentation for the counties, or what
improvement should take place in the qualifications of
those who vote; I will leave that matter to wiser heads
than my own, but certain I am that there is great room
far amendment.—(Hear.) It seems, however, not too
much to ask two isleathers for the large counties and one
for each of the smaller counties. With regard to the
Royal burghs, they are likewise very defective and cor-
rupt. The system of self-election in their Magistrates and
Councils is a matter of such notoriety as cannot be denied by
the most immaculate burgh. (Hear, hear.) The Royal
burghs consist of about 66 in number, and they return to
Parliament 15 members, so each, with the exception of
Edinburgh, have only a quarter or a fifth of a member. It
is most true, then, that the great body of the people have
no voice in the return of the guardians of their rights and
liberties.—(Hear, hear.) Look at Edinburgh, the me-
tropolis of Scotland, with a population of 130,000, and a
place of great wealth, science, and intelligence; they can-
not be said to be represented when the Town Council,
consisting of only 33 members, keep the whole elective
franchise to themselves, and return a member !! ! It is
very questionable, if this close and corrupt system
had not disgraced that city, whether the present
Member would have sat for one Parliament. Such how-
ever, is the deplorable state of the metropolis of Scotland,
the seat of every thing that is polite in literature and
eminent in science. The next city to which I will allude
is Glasgow, the second commercial city of the nation, and
how deplorably is she represented. She has not been thought
worthy to have a member of her own, although containing
a population of upwards of 150,000, many of whom
are men of the highest attainments and enterprise, but are
totally excluded from all share of the political franchise—
still to degrade her more, she must be linked with such
paltry burghs as Rutherglen, Renfrew, and Dumbarton,
which last are considered by the advocates of the present
close system as important in the body politic as
their more wealthy neighbour. There are also
Perth and Dundee, both places of considerable im-
portance, but they also, by the present system, must he
tacked to other three burghs, thus only hiving the fifth
part of a Member to look after their interests.—(Hear.)
Aberdeen and Inverness may be mentioned also as being
inadequately represented. Other places may likewise be
alluded to, n rmely Greenock, Port Glasgow, Paisley, and
Leith, which are not represented at all ! ! The former
town, notwithstanding her large shipping and commercial
interests, is not deemed worthy of a share in the repre-
sentation of the country—the same remarks apply with
equal force to Leith, and the other two populous towns of
Paisley and Port Glasgow. It would doubtless be pre-
sumption in me to paint out any plan of Reform, but it
seems not too much to ask two Members for Edinburgh,
the like for Glasgow, and one for each of the other large
towns of Scotland, and the other small burghs could be so
classed as to afford them a liberal voice. It aho necessarily
follows that a considerable extension of the elective fran-
chise is due to the country—(Cheers)—for example, I
would be inclined to think all who either occupied a house
or shop of the rent of 101. annually, or was owner of pro-
perty to the same value, was entitled to a vote both for
magistrates and Members of Parliament. The people of
Scotland demand nothing wild or visionary—(No, no)—
they seek no more than a full, free, and enlightened re-
presentation in the Commons House of Parliament. But
lit us see who the opposers of this measure are? Why,
it is the powerful aristocracy of the country, the borough-
mongers, placeinen, and fat sinecurists—(Hear, hear)--
who have the effrontery to tell us the machine works well
as it is, and there is no necessity for change. No doubt
it works well for them. They will strenuously oppose the
abolition of a system which is admitted by all good men,
to be base, profane, and corrupt—(Hear)—because forsooth
it will upset all their snug pensions, for it never gives them
a moment's reflection that, while receiving such, they are
feeding and fattening themselves on the vitals and industry
of the people. This question has become like the im-
portant one of Catholic emancipation, when the late ad-
visers of the Crown told the country it could not be longer
delayed, we bad the same hue and cry that both Church
and State were in danger, but no such thing has occurred.
Iu like manner the time has now arrived that it would be
dangerous longer to withhold from the country a Reform
in the Commons House of Parliament, for it is only by a
timely remedy the country may yet be saved.—(Cheers.)
It appears unnecessary to notice the length of Parliaments
which would be satisfactory to the country. The general
opinion, however, seems to be inclined to triennial Parlia-
ments, in which opinion I concur, for the oftener a Mem-
ber comes back to solicit the suffrages of his constituents,
and to render an account of his stewardship, the better.—
(Hear.) Such an extension therefore of the elective fran-
chise as shall comprehend a fair proportion of the pro-
perty and intelligence of Scotland, and which will tend to
infuse confidence in the people in their representatives, is
manifestly just---(Loud cheers)—and you are convened this
evening for the purpose of raising your humble voices to
Parliament, praying that the Legislature of the country
will grant you such a Reform as in its wisdom may ap-
pear expedient—and the doing so becomes absolutely ne-
cessary 'ou your part, when you are told by a Right Hon.
Gentleman in his place in Barliameo, that the people of
Scotland want no Reform. Give then, ky your unani-
mous voices, a flat denial to this assertion, which must
have been made more from zeal than wisdom. I beg to
thaiik you all for the patient attention and indulgence you
have shewa me wh;le attcropting to lay my views before
you on this most unportaut question, and move the
resolution I have read be adopted.

Mr. JAMES Smut), in seconding this resolution, took
occasion to remark that he considered a Reform in Par-
;iztnent necessary to preserve the fundamental institutions
of the country. That from a reformed Parliament we
had a right to extseet a repeal o' :awn encroaching on
the freedom of trade, 'and 'partictilarly a 'repeal of the Corn
Laws. We should also expect a mitigation of the severity
of the Penal L‘,.•*tvc,
the British fitoionies, atbhe (l ig4"du
:E.etlli extinctioneraiat-4of slaveameliorationry
iu
all
the institutions of the country.
Mr. JAMES FARNIE—For the few remarks which I
have to offer while assisting in the business of this meet-
ing, I beg a patient hearing. In shewing you a part of
the lava expenditure of the public money, I will be forced
to draw compai.;oo;;s etween public men. Nothing
however will intentionally fall-frotn p,e irKfs.risstent with
truth. The duty of proposing the second ivaoiutiLri hits
been entrusted to me, and although I am well aware of my
defects, I cannot avoid raising " my feeble voice" to ex-
press a
occasion, for auspicious I consider it to the inhabitants of this
burgh. I am one of those who regard the Union of the
ancient kingdom of Scotland with that of England as one
he gs forcibly" as I can my feelings on this auspicious
of
sibly have [,fallen it under all the circumstances, but it
t
reatest blessings under Providence that could pos-
would he affectation' to disguise that it has proved a bles-
sing not unmixed but rather fraught with most injurious
'consequences, from the limited' nature of the elective
franchise fixed for both the counties anti burghs of Scot-

land. For that however We have only our legislators o
-that clsty to blame, and it is idle now to go back to thatf
period, farther than tracing it as the bases of a system of
misrule which has grown with its growth, as years have
siece passed along, notwithstanding the cm reased intel-
ligence of succeeding generations and total change of cir-
cumstances, both as to wealth and population. Perhaps
no burgh in Scotland has greater reason to deplore the ini-
quitous consequences of this system more than Burntis-
land. Though possessing advantages which no other
burgh on the Firth of Forth enjoys, its harbour has been
neglected, its spirit of commercial enterprise checked, and
its staple trade has fallen away to nothing in a compara-
tive point of view. As to revenue there is literally none
—on the contrary, the town is burdened with debt which
it cannot discharge, and this I apprehend is most justly to
be attributed to the pernicious effects of self-election,
which has engendered a profligate course of burgh manage-
ment in time past. Of course, Ido not apply this obser-
vation to you, Sir, or the present or late magistracy, be-
cause I am aware for a great length of time past, ha 4 they
been ever so much inclined, the town's finances made the
thing impracticable. I wish I could close our local
grievances here; but other consequences, particularly af-
fecting ourselves, stare us in the face. Who can refuse
sympathy to the number of poor people whom we see un-
employed, and without the means of subsistence. How
they are to he provided for in the remaining part of the
season I cannot foresee, the whole business of the burgh of
every description being literally at a stand. In such a
state of things it becomes all prudent men and lovers of
peace and good order to look after proper remedies. The
root of the evil most clearly consists in the degraded
state of Parliamentary representation over the whole
of Great Britain and Ireland generally—but in a
more particular manner over Scotland, where two or three
thousand individuals at most exercise, to the exclusion of
the general mass, the elective franchise, nothing but abuse
and corruption in its rankeSt form could be expected out
of sources so very impure. The remedy of Reform and
rettenchment of the public expenditure has been long
pressed upon the former advisers of former Sovereigns of
this country without effect : year after year our pockets
have been drained, by taxation of one description and
another, until we are almost pennyless, and had even that
part of our money which has been drawn from us since
the termination of the war, gone to the application of any
local improvement, such as our own town and harbour are
susceptible, of, we would have been content. But you
are aware, whenever Government were urged on this sub-
ject, the answer was they had no funds to appropriate to
these purposes. The question then is, where does the
money drained from our pockets go ? Part, but only a
fractional part of the secret is now out in full detail, I
hold in my hand The Sun newspapers of the 3d and 13th
instant, giving names and figures. In the first of these
the public money to no less amount than 78,8301. 13s. 3d.
is paid over annually to a host of placemen and sinecurists,
who strip clean to the bone like the locusts of Egypt.—
The items of these lists are most revolting; among the
black catalogue they contain, I find, only one name on
which the eye delights to dwell, it is that of a distin-
guished English nobleman—the Marquis Camden, who,
entitled by patent right to the large fees of a sinecure office,
signs for the sake of form merely a receipt for many
thousand pounds annually, which he would be entitled to
pocket, but instantly transfers to the public treasury. I
think it worth while to present you with the contrast of
this conduct as exemplified in the persons of two sinecu-
rists near our own doors, and as it is not my desire to
make fish of the one, and flesh of the other. I just select
the case of a nobleman whom we have all along under-
stood as a prominent Whig, and a gentleman about whom
there can be no misunderstanding as a thorough going
Tory : I allude to my Lord Rosslyn, a nobleman whom
all of us respect as eminent in public spirit, and .highly
distinguished for gentlemanly deportment and private
worth, but who nevertheless, as I perceive from this list,
possesses a snug sinecure office as Director of Chancery in
Scotland, held by deputy, to the tune of no less a sum than
18521. 7s. 6d. annually.—(Hear, hear.) The other is
Mr. William Dundas, Member pro tenzpore for the City
of Edinburgh ; the list in which this gentleman's name
must appear, has not yet reached me, but he, I know, draws
the public money for doing nothing to the amount of se-
veral thousand pounds annually. It was this same gentle-
man " this Edinburgh Jupiter"—(Loud laughter.)—
who, addressing a 33d part of his constituency, asserted
the burgesses of Scotland were satisfied with the state of the
present representation, an assertion he had a manifest in-
terest in making, but which he will not now in his place
in Parliament repeat. But the last of the newspapers I
have referred to gives me, for the first time, as much to my
astonishment, as I am certain it will be to yours, the in-
telligence: that our own Provost and representative shares
in the general spoil. (Great agitation.) I find he holds
the sinecure office of Clerk to Chancery in Scotland, draw-
ing therefore to the amount of 1135/. I7s. fid. annually.
(Murmurs of great dissatisfaction.) Now these never
would have been permitted had our elective franchise been
pure. Had the peop'e possessed the right of controel
which, I trust, they will speedily acquire in electing fit and
proper persons as their representatives, who would regard
the public interests, and not their own private advantage,
such doings, which cannot meet the light of day, never
would have existed. It is most gratifying to find that this
system is now about being put to its purgation. Thanks
to the ever-memorable declaration against Reform made
by the Duke of Wellington, our country has been saved
from civil dissensions and strife, of which there was no
seeing the end, and that our patriot King, who lives in the
best affections of us all, is now surrounded by advisers who
have seriously set on foot investigations, the mere discus-
sion of which now must result in unspeakable benefit to
the country at large, and drag to open view and reproba-
tion the details of that hydra-headed corruption which has
so long lain under cover. I do not expect the present
Administration are to work wonders. They require time,
for they have an Augean stable to sweep, and will meet
with much obstruction from those interested in maintaining
the present state of pensions and sinecures, and the general
system of boroughmongering influence, but I urge,them to
persevere. Supported by the countenance and protection
of our beloved Monarch, and the general voice of every
unbiassed and disinterested mind among the people, such
obstructions will not avail, and cannot ultimately succeed.
Meantime it becomes us, in my humble opinion, to give
our confidence to the present responsible Ministers of the
Crown, and to strengthen their hands inasmuch as in our
power lies by the expressien of our sentiments. We find
them not sleeping at their posts, but active in the regular
promotion of those principal objects upon which they have
accepted office. For myself, though in the general case
confidence is a plant of slow growth, and perhaps some of
my senior friends now present may think I am too san-
guine, I give Ministers my whole confidence, being most
satisfied that so long as Lords Brougham and Althorp, and
Sir James Graham—(Cheers)—to whose sleeves I pin
my political faith—(Continued cheering)—form a part of
the Cabinet, corruption must hide its diminished head,
and every thing for the good of the country that men can
do will be done. For the same reasons it does humbly
occur to me that, upon the question of Reform, we should
not force upon the attention of Government our individual
opinions. I hope we are all agreed on the principle that
Reform is absolutely necessary, and ought no longer to be
withheld. With these sentiments, I beg to propose the
following resolution :

What this meeting receive with satisfaction the pledges
made by his Alajesty's Government for the furtherance of
this cardinal question, and being confident that such mea-
sures will bd introduced as may be in accordance with the
established order of society, and the settled institutions of
the nation, deem it unnecessary to offer any opinion on de-
tails which they themselves entertain."

Mr. JAMES ffENpERsoN, present Dean of Guild, se-
conded the resolution.

i rihoert
(ac
rb:otneasnpi dtaerartne
indo .I.:„ltii
ehi
emet sdeaellsfi
bpme
la.uarctiiihoa
nallsieo n_ff,o.
au
yr:d. 1
.eeitn:
Mr. PETER LESLIE, in moving the third resolution,
fur
ittfaetstel certain that whatever share of odium oedt
was
being
begged i
fon rg ll. epl de to
permitted
attachable to their Provost and present representative, on
the ground of the sinecure, it now appeared to the sur-
prise of all present he enjoyed, no corruption could ha
laid to the charge of the Magistrates and Council of the
burgh, who, he was gratified to find, had come forward,
and by their presence amongst 119 counter.anced the present
meeting. Such conduct showed that.thq had not only no
wish to perpetuate the Close system of self-election, but
It is not now,
were anxious to have the elective franchise extended to
and re_
re
o-
trenchmentf
are'
those who ought to possess it, and to put an end to the
present imperfect, unsatisfactory, and pernicious system.
Soirr, 'a
rae notquestionto
be gone
atlistressed country' demands it in a language not to be
4-4s!.;n4qst:cci. "ur most gracious Monarch is himself a
reformer, and the.Finjoica upaG wi);';11 hi,: l'.lliesty's Go-
vernment is based, are so sound that the measures cannot
oe
int o. Reform
f
he longer delayed. Possessors of decayed burghs in Eng-
land, and a few of our servile Scotch representatives, may
indeed show an opposition to his Majesty's wishes and
Administration, but it will not avail. Be it understood
we wish no violent change, but to preserve, not injure,
our invaluable Constitution. Let us do our duty by sign-
ing the petition to be grounded upon these resolutions,
leaving the details to the wisdom of Parliament ; and
whatever the result, we cannot be denied ' the consolation
that vwf have (lone all in 01,r power to strengthen the bands