The Sun.
London, England, 1831-03-16 00:00:00

SCOTCH REFORM BILL.

A BILL TO AMEND THE REPRESENTATION
OF THE PEOPLE IN SCOTLAND.
[Note.—The Words printed in Italics are proposed to be inserted
serveeWfe
cht
iievnreet,a Whereas
wherebyt he Laws
Commons
greati hhHi the
eionhucsroeengyoueflCommittee.]ialtiee,itParliamentchese
a electionnd af of
abuses
ur ses.
oMehtaml
a,
have
de
been
sea
ert
noe
occasioned: and whereas it is expedient and would be for the
evident utility of the subjects within Scotland that those defects
should be remedied, and especially that the right of election
should be extended to persons of property and intelligence, and
the mode of conducting elections be better reeul ted and or_
dered ; be it therefore enacted, by the King's Most Excellent
Majesty, by and with the consent of the Lords Spiritual and
Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled,
and by the authority of the same, that from and after the time
when this Act shall come into operation, and in all future Par.
liaments to be assembled, there shall be fifty representatives re-
turned for Scotland to the Commons House of Parliament of
whom twenty-eight shall be for the several or conjointed shires
or stewartries hereinafter enumerated, and twenty-two for the
qualified
aot
lufi
several burghs and towns, or districts of burghs and towns here-
inafter
shall jointly
wholeo bine tli
yt
electors
returnlec to enacted,rs .
itnnhea tisbitoehtmlei
bteswrh shiresoitroes
all
enumerated or described.
Peeblesrflee,l asParliaments, ahnedreSlakafti
anti
the
directed, shall vote together as the electors of one shire for such
Member, and in like manner the two shires of Ross and Cro-
marty, and the two shires of Dumbarton and Bute, and the two
shires of Nairne and Elgin, and the two shires of Clackmannan
and Kinross shall each two of them jointly return one Member
to Parliament; and all the qualified
electorsin the manner
hereinafter provided shall vote or be entitle to vote together for
the return of such Member in each of the two shires hereby for
this purpose united.
And be it enacted, that from and after the time when this
Act shall come into operation, the district of burghs, consisting
of Easter Anstruther, Pittenween, Wester Anstruther, Kil-
renny and Crail, shall no longer return a Member to Parliament,
and these places shall, in the matter of such elections, be held to i
be parts of the shire or county of Fife.
And be it enacted, that of the twenty-eight representatives 1
hereafter to be returned to Parliament by the separate or com-
bined shires or stewartries of Scotland, one shall always be re-
turned by each of the counties or stewartries following, and no
others : namely, one by each of the counties or stewartries of
Aberdeen, Argyle, Ayr, Banff, Berwick, Caithness, Dumfries,
Edinburgh, Fife' Forfar, Haddington, Inverness, Kincardine,
Kirkcudbright, Lanark, Linlithgow, Perth, Renfrew, Roxburgh,
Stirling, Sutherland, and Wigtown, and that one Member shall
also be returned by the two shires of Peebles and Selkirk jointly,
oneby Dumbarton and Bute, one by Elgin and Nairne, one by
Ross and Cromarty, one by Orkney and Shetland, and one by
Clackmannan and Kinross.
And be it enacted, that of the twenty-two Members to be re-
turned for the several or combined burghs and towns of Scot.
land, two shall always be returned by Edinburgh, including
Portoburg, Canongate and other contiguous suburbs, two by
Glasgow, including Calton, Gorbals, Anderston, and other
contiguous suburbs, one by Aberdeen and suburbs thereof, one
by Paisley and suburbs thereof, one by Dundee and suburbs
thereof, one by Greenock and suburbs thereof, and one by
Leith, north and south, and suburbs thereof, together with
Portobello, Musselburgh, and Fisherrow jointly; and one by
each of the districts or classes of burghs specified in an Act
passed in the fifth year of the reign of her Majesty Queen Anne,
intituled, " An Act for an Union of the two Kingdoms of Eng-
land and Scotland," and hitherto in use to return Members to
Parliament ; provided always that the district of Easter An-
struther, Pittenween, Wester Anstruther, Kilrenny, and Crail,
shall, as hereinbefore provided, no longer return any Member ;
provided also, that Aberdeen shall not, after this Act shall come
into operation, form a part of the district to which it hath
belonged, and the town of Peterhead shall be added to that dis-
trict, and all the qualified electors it contains shall be entitled to
vote at the election of Members to serve in Parliament, along
with those in the other towns of which it consists : provided also
that Glasgow shall in like manner no longer form a part of the
district to which it has hitherto belonged, and the town of Kil-
marnock shall be added to that district, and all its qualified elec-
tors be entitled to vote at the election of Members to serve in
Parliament, along with those of Dumbarton, Rutherglen, and
Renfrew : provided also, that Dundee shall in like manner no
longer form a part of the district to which it has hitherto be-
longed, and that the whole right of election for that district shall,
after this Act shall come into operation, be in Perth, St. An-
drew's, Forfar, and Cupar of I, ife : provided also, that the town
of Falkirk shall be added to the district hitherto consisting of Lin-
lighgew, Selkirk, Lanark and Peebles. Providedalso that the town
of Cromarty shall be added to the district hitherto consisting of
TaM, Dingwall, Wick, and Kirkwall.
And be it further enacted, that all the persons who at the
passing of this Act shall be on the roll of freeholders of any
stewartry or county in Scotland, shall for the term of their na-
tural lives, and so long as they retain the qualification on which
they are now enrolled, be entitled to be registered and to vote as
hereinafter directed, in the election of a Member for such county
or stewartry : provided always, that from and after the pasting
of this Act, no person shall acquire by succession, purchase, gift
or otherwise, thesright of voting, either in counties or in towns,
except by one or other of the qualifications hereinafter press
scribed and directed.
And be it enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act
every person being of full age, and not personally disqualified by
law, shall be entitled to be registered as herein directed, and
thereafter to rote in elections for counties or stewartries, who
shall, when he claims to be so registered, be the actual owner on
a complete permanent and indefeasible title of land, or of a
dwelling-house or dwelling within such county or stewartry,
which land or houses shall jointly or separately be of the yearly
value of not less than ten pounds, after deducting any feu duty
or other consideration which he may be bound to pay, or to give,
or account for, as a condition of his own right.
And be it enacted, that every person, not being personally dis-
qualified, shall in like manner be entitled to be registered and to
vote in the election for a county or stewartry, who, when he
claims to be registeted, shall be in possession on completed titles
in virtue of an expired comprising, or adjudication, or proper
wadset ; provided these rights be not taken away by a decree of
declirator of redemption, or by voluntary redemption, renune
Oiatiffil, or adjudication : es: who shall be an heir apparent. pc,s-
seasinti 911. th" ttle of his predecessor, or who sbelt bp. zljneessetece
claiming on the title of his wife or possessing after her death ily
the courtesy of Scotland, the land or dwelling-house on which
such parties respeetiyely ciztjav being always situate within the
county cr stewartry, and of the yearly value of not less than ten
pozeisds, after deducting any feu duty or other consideration which
he may be bound to pay, or to give, or account for, as a condi-
tion
of his own right'
And be it enacted, that terianle in laqs or in dweiling-houses,
cr in both, shad also be entitled to be registered as hereinafter di,
direeted, and ' to" vote in elections for counties or stowar.
tries, provided each tenant shall, when he claims to he
regisleieil, be in possession, under a regular written lease
for a period of not less than nineteen years, or on a
lease for the period of the tenant's or the landlord's life,
and the subject or subjects which he so possesses shall, jointly er
separately. he truly rented at not less than Arty you yeatiy,
and the Subject or subjects being within the srewattry of county
in which he ulairsis : Provided alWays, that the said tenant be, at
the'time of his so claiming to be registered, in actual possession,
and shall have been so for at least two years immediately prior
to his so claiming or being registered : provided always, that
where any farm shall be let to two or more joint tenants for a
rent exceeding one hundred pounds per annum, two of the said
joint tenants shall be entitled to be registered, and to vote az
after direeted, provided bosh shall Le actually in possession, and
resident on the said farm, but no mere than two votes shall in
any case be allowed on such joint leases, tvliatever may be the
number of tenants oe'the-fent of the farm : provided elsoLthet
where there are two or more joint tenants in Any lease, the indi-
vidual or individuals entitled to vote as above! shall be deter-
mined by the fact of there being first named in the body of the
I join; !,ease.
And be it epiu.4ed, that in elections for counties or stewartries, _
Iwhere two or more persons .are interested in the subject frem
which the vote arises, as life-renter and as fiar, the right of
,e,ring shall be in the life-renter, and not in the fiar ; arid where
Ithe subject, being of less value than to adbrd a live yearly return
to each co-proprietor of ten pounds, is held by heirs-portioners
without division, the right to vote shall belong to the eldest heir-
portioner happening to be male, or to the husband of the eldest
heirsportioner being a female, and married.
. And be it enacted, that froM and after the passing
of this Act, the Members who are to be returned to serve
in any future Parliament for the city of Edinburgh, or
for any other single town or burgh on which the right
of reternieg is Member or Members is by this Act, conferred,
mall no longer be elected by the respective town coapcils of
such burghs or towns, but directly by the several indivlipals on
whom the right of electing Members to serve in Parliament is
by this Act conferred : provided always, that where the election
is by districts or sets of burghs or towns conjoined, the right of
mi
nomination shall no longer be in the town cncils or other
Corporations of the said burghs or towns, or in delegates ap-
pointed by them, but in the individual voters to whom the right
of election is by thie Act extended ; and the Member to serve in
Parliament shall be returned according to the majority of indi-
vidual votes given in the whole district per capita, without re.
gard to the separate majorities which may exist in the several
towns or burghs.
And be it enacted, that every person shall be entitled to be
registered as herein directed, and thereafter to vote at elections
for any of the burghs or towns, or districts of burghs or towns
hereinbefore neeistic.ned, who when he claims to be registered
shall have been for six months iremediately preceding, and shall
then be in the actual personal occupancy, either as proprietor or
as tenant, upon a written title of possession of a dwelling-helm,
or part thereof, within the limits of the burgh or town, of the
annual value of ten pounds: provided always, that it shall be
sufficient proof of the said value that the house so possessed is
actually rented at, and has truly paid that or a larger sum, or
stands rated to the King's or to local taxes at not less than the
said sum, and has truly paid all such rates and taxes.
And be it enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act
every person conceiving himself entitled to vote at any election
for a 'Member to serve in Parliament, shall state his claim, and
the grounds of it to the Sheriff or Stewart of the county or
stewartry within which the subject or, which he means to claim
is situate, such claim to be made within the court-house of
office of the Sheriff or Stewart during the ordinary 'hoer?
for business, or at such other time or place as the Sheriff or
Stewart shall by public notice appoint for that purpose; and
such claim shall he stated in the first instance by the party per-
sonally, and the party shall. then suppqrt and make good his
claim by exhibition of the writings, or a regular extract there-
of, on which his title depends, and by such further evidence,
either as to the title or the value, or any ether material circum-
stance, by &contents, witnesses, certificates or otherwise, as the
Stewart or Sheriff rear reasonably require; provided always, that
it shall be competent o any other person, who shall be registered
as hereinafter directed within the same shire or town, to make
before
the Sheriff or! Stewart, and to object to the
appearancemaintain ally mina'
disqualification that ma
claim of any such claimant, as well as to pe
y attach to any such claimant; provided
also, that all such elainis shell be presented
one calendar month
at least before any election for a Menilser of Parliament for the
place for which such claim is presented,
And be it enacted, that whenSheriff' Stewart shall be
the or.
satisfied that the claim is well founded, and that no personal dis-
ability has been proved against the claimant, he shall forthwith
enrol the claimant in a xegister book, in the form as nearly as
iota be of the schedule (A.) herennte ennexed, and setting forth
distinct manner the date, place, shire, sts.‘wartry, burgh, or
town, this
came and calling of the claimant, the character of
landlord, tenant, or otherwise, in which his claim has been al-
lowed, and the name pr the desctiption of the property on which
it is founded; and the said Sheriff shall sign every such entry in
the register, and furnish an era, copy of it to every claimant
who may require it.
that each Sheriff shall within
And he it enacted,
Act, make up and complete an
months after the passing of this
18 so registered as above,
alphabetical list of the whole persons
to which all persons
which shall be the list or register according
shall be admitted to vote as hereinafter directed at any election
he said
which may take place after the expiration oft
months, and before the first day of December in the year
one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
c Sherifo ff
And be it further enacted, that thereafter
eaanhd bere thshalle
ones in every year, in the month of October,
tenth day of the month, gi y e public notice, by advertisements in-
serted in the newspapers and affixed to the church doors of the
.
or
different churches of this county, that he will proceed to u
and complete his said register of voters ona certain day, not mo rect
e
than sisfeen days after the date of such advertisements, and shoe
II
therein require all persons, on orbefore such day, tointimate any
alterations they propose to be made in the said register, on ac-
count of the death, change of residence, qr other disgpalitication
that may have occurred in the case of any registered voter,
and where the intimation is not given by such registered voter
himself, one week's clear notice shall be given to him by the
Party Making the intimation ; and the Sheriff shall affbrd all
parties having interest, due opportunities of being heard; and
after sufficient inquiry into the facts shall correct and complete
his register accordingly, by striking out the names of those who
have died er become disqualified, and inserting the names of
those who have succeeded to or acquired qUalifications since it
was last made up or adjusted, and such Inquiry shall be complet.

ed, and correct such register finally madeup, before the.firSt day
of December in each succeeding year, and shall be the record or
register according to which all votes shall be allowed or rejected
at any election that may take place between that date and the
next succeeding annual correction; and alphabetical lists of the
names entered on such shall be printed under the inspection of
the Sheriff; and furnished to such voters, or other persons as may
require them, upon payment of sixpence for each copy so
furnished.
!And be it enacted, that the judgment of the Sheriff' or Stewart
shall, so long as it stands, be conclusive of 'the claimant's right to
be registered and to vote : provided always that it shall be com-
petent for any claimant who is rejected, to submit his claim to
the reconsideration of the Sheriff or Stewart himself, and to re-
quire, if so advised, the verdict of a jury on any disputed facts,
which jury the Sheriff shall in that case proceed within
weeks to summon and assemble, in such manner as Sheriffs
are now empowered to assemble juries for the trial of criminal
cases within their jurisdiction; and it 'shall be competent to
any other registered voter within the same shire, to appeal
against the act and decision of the Sheriff', admitting such
claimant by summary petition to either division of the Court
of Session, provided his apnea' proceeds solely on a ground
or grounds or law, in which petition the claimant objected. to
shall be cited as respondent ; and it shall also be competent to any
person whose claim has been rejected, to appeal to either division
of the Court by summary petition, provided his appeal shall pro-
ceed solely on a ground or on grounds of law, lie being bound to
call as respondent, any party on whose opposition before the
sheriff or stewart the rejection may have taken place : provided
always, that if in either case a party shall appear in defence of
the sheriff or stewart's decision, the case shall proceed according
to the usual practice of the Court of Session in summary cases,
and where from there havingbeen no opposition before thesheriff
or stewart there shall be no party to be called as respondent, or
where when called no respondent shall appear, the appeal shall
nevertheless proceed ex ate, it being incumbent on the appellant
to satisfy the Court that the judgment is erroneous in law
before the said Court shall alter the decision of the Sheriff;
and the costs of such proceeding shall be borne by the
appellant in all cases where no appearance is made against
him : provided also, that no alteration of the Sheriff's judg.
ment shall affect the merits of any election actually com—
pleted and carried through before the date of such alteration, ex-
cept in so far as effect may be given to such alteration by any
Committee of the Commons House of Parliament to which a pe-
tition against such election may be referred: provided always, that
nothing herein contained shall be held to limit or restrain the
powers of such Committee to take into consideration the validity
of any vote or claim for registration admitted or rejected by the
Sheriff, and to alter the register, poll, or return accordingly, in
so far as concerns the election petitioned against.
And be it enacted, that from and after the time of this Act
shall come into operation, on occasion of any election for
any county, stewartry, burgh, or town, the Sheriff or Stewart
having, as hereinafter directed, appointed a place or places
for taking the poll or receiving the votes, every person
whose name shall appear in the last corrected register,_ and none
other, shall be entitled to vote for the election of Members to
serve in Parliament, and it shall not be competent to inquire on
that occasion into any other facts except those of the party ten-
dering the vote being truly the individual mentioned in the said
register, and of his not having previously voted in the course of
that election : provided always that the inquiry into these facts
shall on this occasion be confined to the putting to the person so
tendering his vote, if the Sheriff or Stewart shall think fit so to
do, an oath in the form in the schedule (B.) to this Act annexed.
vcaontedi
:at
such
hr
erleetitsitoeir, do! voter,oaths
put g
against
anyst bript,errsy7
atieldoetritirigustthede
Provided also that the Sheriff shall, upon the request of any
possession now competent to be put to any elector, aild no person
refusing to take any of the said oaths shall be pe.mitted to vote at
such election.

And be it enacted, that writs for election of Members to serve
in Parliament, shall be directed as heretofore to the Sheriff or
Stewart of the county or stewartry within which the election is
to be held ; and where the election is for a district of burghs or
towns lying in different shires, a writ shall be directed to the
Stewart or Sheriff of each county or stewartry which contains any
burgh or town of the district ; and the Sheriff or Stewart shall
endorse on the back of the writ the day on which he received it,
and shall within three days thereafter, name and publicly an-
nounce a day, which day shall not be later than twenty-one days
after that on which the writ was received for the election for his
county or stewartry, or for any burgh or town within his juris-
diction; and shall give due intimation thereof by advertisement
in the newspaper or newspapers of most general circulation in
such shire or district, and by printed notices, to be affixed on the
doors of all the parish churches within the county or stewartry,
when the election is for a county or stewartry, or of all the parish
churches of the burghs or towns, when it is for a burgh or town
or district of burghs; and such advertisement or intimation shall
give notice not only of the day or days of elections, but of the
particular place or places at which the votes are to be taken.
And be it enacted, that on the day of election the Sheriff or
Stewart shall, wherever the registered voters shall exceedfive
hundred in number, have two or more separate places for taking
the poll, or one place, as nearly as may be, for each five hundred
voters, each of which places shall be under the personal charge
either of the Sheriff or Stewart, or of a substitute appointed by
him for whom he shall be responsible ; and no poll shall be kept
open more than two days, and only between the hours of nine
of the morning aed four in the afternoon ; and each Sheriff or
Stewart in charge of each polling-place, shall bring with him either
the original or a certified copy or duplicate of the last corrected re-
gister of voters, and shall proceed in receiving or in rejecting votes
according as the name of the claimants shall appear, or shall not
appear in such register, and shall record each vote in a poll-
book, and subscribe his name to each page of the said book before
proceeding to make entries on any succeeding page ; and each
substitute Sheriff or Stewart officiating, shall immediately after
the poll at his lolling-place is closed, make up and sign, a report
in the form of the schedule (C.) to this Act annexed to the
Sheriff or Stewart of his county or stewartgys (but not to their
substitutes;) and when !the election shall be for the conjunct
shires of Selkirk and Peebles, Bute wad Dumbarton, Nairne and
Elgin, Ross and Cromarty, or Clackmannan and Kinross, the
report or reports shall always bees:lade to the Sheriff of Peebles
and not of Selkirk, to the. Sberiff of Dumbarton and not of Bnte,
the Sheriff of Elgin and not of Nairne, the Sheriff of Ross and
not of Cromarty, and to the Sheriff of Clackmannan and not of
Kinross,
Anil be, it enacted, that the Sheriff or Stewart (but not his
sulastittite) having received the said report or reports, shall,
when the election is for the county of which he is Sheriff or
Stewart, or for that and any other coeety united, forthwith pro-
ceed to check and examine the vete,:• and reports, by comparin
the votes as reported with the register book, or otherwise, whereg he shall think this neceepary, or where any candidate shall re-
quire it, and having ascertained the result of the total majority
of votes, he sliall'openly declare the said result and make pre-
eiamatice of the Member or Members elected, and shall forth.
with make a return in terms of the writ, under his hand and
seal, tp the Clerk of the Crown in England, of the person orper-
sons who shall have been elected : and if the votes shall be equal,
he shall make a double return.
And be it enacted, that where the election is for one burgh or
town, sending a Member er two Members by itself, the said re-
ports shall be made to the Sheriff of the shire within which such
burgh or terse stsafs be Situate; and where the election shall be
for a district or set of burghs or towns lying in different shires,
the report shall in like manner be made in the first instance to
the Sheriff,: of the several shires within which any of the said
nurglie or towns shall be situate; and thereafter the Sheriff§ of
tho' shire or shires within which the less considerable towns or
burghs shall besituate, shall transmit the reports made or received
by them to the Sheriff of the shire within which the most eons'.
:losable burgh or town of the district is situate, by whom the re.
turn of the person or persons duly elected shall be made, as above,
to ses., Clerk of the Crown in England,
And in order that no doubtsmay existas to the particular Sheriff
upon whom this duty shall„ hi the last case, devolve, be it enacted,
that the Sheriflof Caithness shall always receive the reports and
make the-retiiro (*GT the district in which the burgh of Wit k is si.
tuate the Sheriff of I nverness.shire, for the district in which Inver.
ness is situate; the Sheriffof Elgin, for the district in whiehElgin
is situate; the Sheriff of Forfar. for the district in which Mont.
rose is situate ; the Sheria! et Perthshire, for the district in
which re:AL is situate; the Sheriff of Fife, for the district in
whieli Dninfernline is situate; the Sheriffof Ayr, for the district
in 'which Kilmarnock is situate ; and the Sheriff of Haddington_
shire, for the district in which Haddingtam is situate •e andar the
Sheriff of Lanarkshire, for the district within which Lan k is
which Dumfries is situate ; ani the Sheriffof Wietown, for the
situate ; and the Sheriff of Dumfrieshire, for the district within
district within which Wigton is situate; and the Sheriff of Ayr,
for the district in which Ayr is situate,
or to vote at the election for ale county or stewartry, in respect
And be it enacted, that no person shall be admitted to claim
of any property situate within the limits of any burgh or town,
entitled to send, or to contribute towards sending a Member to
Parliament; nor shall any person he admitted to claim, or to vote
in the election for any Cowl* or burgh in respect of any property
not situate within the limits of the said town or burgh.
And be it enacted, that with regard to each and all of the
towns and leirghs hereby entitled conjunctlY or several to send
Representatives to Parliament, the limits of all such towns and
burghs and the boundary between them and the adjacent
county, shall be determined as to this matter of voting at elec-
tion, not by the limits of the royalty, regality, or other territory
or liberty thereto belonging, but by th e terminations of the streets
or continuous or nearly continuous buildings,commonly known and
reputed as constituting the said town, or the continuous suburbs.
thereof, althoegi, distinguished by different names, or situate with,
in separate territories or jurisdictions; and if any dispute uppr,this
subject shall arise before the Sheriff at the time of
tion, the said Sheriff shall summarily inquire into and decide on
the matter, which decision shall be final and conclusive, as to
any reei tra.
the right of the party who may -rote in conformity to it at. any
election which may occur before it is superseded
it shall ay
meat of any superior tribunal : Provided always, that .
rill times be competent for any five of the registered voters
1
such burgh or tqwpa or adjacent county, by Summary petition
apnly to either division of the COurt of Session to altersuch_ fboun
by the juag.
de-
cision of the Sheriff; or to fix and specify the whole line o -
dary between the said town and county, according 1.0
meaning of this Art.
And be it enacted, that no Sheriffbr Stewart, or Sherlffor Stewartto
Substitute, shall he entitled from and after the pas , ing of this Act, to
the true
vote at an y election fora Member to serve in Parliament for th est
of which he is the Sheriff or Stewart, or far any burgh or tovsn:or
district of burghs or towns, lying partly or wholly within such
shire; and no Judge of the Court of Session or of the Court of
Exchequer, shall be entitled to vote at any such election for airy
Shire, burgh, or town, or diStrict of burghs or towns in Scotland.
And be it enacted, thet from and after tbe 'missing of the Act,
no person shall be eligible to represent any county or stewartrY:
who shall not be the proprietor of a land estate in Scotland of the
value of five hundred pounds a year, or be the heir apparent to
such an estate: provided always, that all persons who at the
time of the passing of this Act Were qualified to be elected at'
Ilepresentatives of any shire or stewartry, shall continue to be
eligible as Such Representatives fpr the • term of their natural
lives, and so long a:: they retain the qualification of which they
were then possessed.
And be it enacted, that it shall be no objection to any person,
otherwise qualified, who shall be elected to represent any place
in Scotland, that he is the eldest son of a Scotch Peer.
And be it enacted, that if any Sheriff, Returning Officer, or
other person whatsoever, shall wilfully contravene or disobey :WY
of the provisions of this Act, with respect to any matter or thing
which such Sheriff or other person is hereby required to do, he
shall fur every such offence be subjected in a penalty of not less
than ten pounds, nor more than one hundred pounds, to be roe.
scrod by suremerY petition anti complaint to either division of
the Court of Session, by any person who may sue for the same,
with full costs of suit, and shall farther be liable to an action of
damages at the instance of any candidate, registered voter, or
other person aggrieved by his misconduct, who shall in such
action recover all such damage as he may be entitled to, either at
common law, or byemy Act or Statute now in force.
And be it enacted, that if any person shall, in any of the pros
ceedings preparatory to or at any election, be guilty of any per-
jury, subornation of perjury, falsehood, forgery, or other crime,
such person shall not only be liable to be tried and punished as
such offenders may now be tried and punished by tie laws and
practice of Scotland but shall farther be liable to be prosecuted
for damages at the instance of any candidate, registered voter,
or other person aggrieved by his said crime.
And be it enacted, that if any person whose name is in the last
corrected register, but who, at the time of any election shall be
in the enjoyment of any office by law disqualifying him from
voting io any election of Members to serve in Parliament, shall
notwithstanding presume to vote in such election, be shill not
only be liable to all penalties and forfeitures to which be would
have been subject for that offence by any law existing before the
passing of this Act ;e return at the election in which such per-
but in case of a petition to the House of
Commons against th
tee,soe wshallith suchhe voted,cos,
t ohbi his vboyt eh shallim p a ibde struckto any
petitioner,
ibriyo theil
er,
as
Commit.
t is
the
h t
it t
enacted,tee s hal i s
thatepm Jest.
every
thing by which
this Ac
directed to be done by a Sheriff or Stewart may be lawfully done
by his substitutes, unless where it is otherwise expressly provided.
samAendCobmelni
And be it enacted, that every person claiming to be registered,
shall at the time of making such claim pay to the Sheriff or Stewart
ofticiating the sum of one shilling, and every registered voter
shall, when tendering his vote at any election, make payment
of the like sum of one shilling to the acting SliSheriff'Sheriff'or Stewart :
Provided always, that out of the money so received the Sheriff or
Stewart shall be bound to defray the whole expense of preparing
and adiusting the register, and keeping and providing c, books and

_Joe
(04
Wino

LONDON,
WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 16, 1831.

Brussels Papers contain a spirited proclamation
of the Regent of Belgium, in which he states that
be will defend to the utmost the rights and privi-
leges of the Grand Duchy,pf Luxemburg. This
Proclamation, which is signed by all the Ministers,
says, "we began our revolution in spite of the
treaties of 1815 : we will finish it in spite of the
Protocols of London :"

BRUSSELS.

PROCLAMATION OF THE REGENT OF BELGIUM.

INHABITANTS OF THE PROVINCE OF LUXEMBURG.

" FELLOW CITIZENS,-.—l have sworn to maintain the
Independence and integrity of the Belgian territory.
" I shall be faithful to my oath.
" Do not suffer yourselves to be induced by promises or
terrified by threats.
" The Congress has protested against the acts of the
Congress, at London, which a great power itself considers
only as proposals. The nation which has been able to
vanquish the Dutch armies will maintain the protest of its
representatives. We began our revolution in spite of the
treaties of 1815 • we will finish it in spite of the protocols
of London.

" Luxemburghers, you have been for these three cen-
turies Belgians, like us, and you have shown yourselves
worthy of that name. _ _ _

" Ever since the reign of Philip the Good, your efforts,
like ours, have had for their object a common nationality.
" In 3815, you had for the first time chosen connection
With Germany, but you have continued a line under the
same institutions as the rest of Belgium.

" In the Grand Duchy, as well as in the other Idelgic
provinces, King William has broken the social compact
which united him to the Belgians, and has released them
from their engagements by violating his own.
" War has decided between him and us; the legitimate
authority is that which the national will has founded.
" You are not strangers to our combats aad our victo-
ries; you have spontaneously associated yourselves with
the Belgic revolution, and the names of your volunteers
are inscribed in the history of our days.
" You already enjoy, as far as circumstances will per-
mit, the benefit of the revolution.
" The most odious taxes are abolished.

" You have yourselves removed your Communal Au-
thorities, and your affairs are administered by men of your
•lawn choosing.
" Your Deputies have concurred in giving to Belgium
the Constitution which governs it.
hav‘e‘ Yb
been
have
fi,r ni (
54 forgottenyears
the y
itche ti
ms.vexations
Fear
tohf
ew
return
you
e tur
nof
the Dutch system of taxation, which has ruined your
manufactures and your agriculture.
" The men who speak to you of legal order, and who
excite among you civil war, are the agents, the accom-
plices, of the overthrow of the Government. They have
lived by all the abuses, and they regret them.
" Reduced to itself, separated from Belgium, France,
and Prussia, hemmed in on all sides by lines of Custom-
houses. Your province, by constituting itself apart, would
be the most wretched country on earth.
Luxemburgbers, remain united and firm. In the name
of Belgium, accept the assurance that your brethren will
never abandon you.
" The Regent of Belgium, E.L. SURLET CIIOKIER.
" By the Regent."
(Here follow the signatures of all the Ministers.)
ROME, MARCII I.—We are here waging a bloodless
war. The Romans are still in Civita Castellana, the Pro-
vincialists in Otricoli. It is said the only object of the
insurgents in advancing, was the deliverance of the indi-
viduals imprisoned in Civita Castellana for their political
opinions, and that as these prisoners hare already been
released by the Pope's orders, their object is attained.
mow think they wilt not come to Rome, especially as the
report of the Austrians gains ground, and has in fact a
half official character, as it comes from persons of the
highest rank.
The Buonaparte family, especially the Prince of Mont-
fort and the Duchess of St. Leu, have employed all the
means in their power to induce the two sons of the latter
who are with the insurgents to return to Reme. Hitherto
they have not succeeded in their object.
VIENNA, Illaactr s.—Four per Cent. Metalliques,
69 ; Bank Shares, 946.

The Express from Paris, which we hate ex-
tracted from the Times of this morning, contains
(from the Moniteur) six Royal Ordinances, appoint-
ing the new Ministry, of which M. CASIMIR-
PERIER is appointed President. Baron Louts suc-
ceeds LAFITTE as Minister of Finance. The news from
Warsaw still continues cheering—indeed we might
almost say full of hope. The Prussian State Ga-
zette contains a Russian account of the battle of

Grochow, in which the Russians claim the victory,
but admit a loss of from 4,000 to 5,000 men ;
and add, that the Commander-in-chief found it
necessary to allow his army two days' rest
after the battle. The St. Petersburgh Papers
also--a circumstance strongly in favour of
the Poles--speak now, for the first time,
of an insurrection which broke out last autumn
among the mountaineers of the Caucasus, on hear-
ing of the French revolution. The insurrection,
however, it is stated, was quickly suppressed by the
Generals P- ANKRATJEW and EMMANUEL, in a
manner glorious to the Russian arms. We
anticipated something of this sort some weeks
singe, and added that time would fight for the
Poles pretty nearly as well as the patriots
themselves. It would not surprize us to hear shortly
of a diversion in Finland, where we hear, on good
authority, much popular dissatisfaction exists. The
Hamburg Papers state that Austria is taking every
active precaution possible to secure the tranquillity
of her Polish possessions.

The Reform Bill has been read a first time, and
is now before the country. Very little was said on
its introduction; the opponents of the measure re-
serve themselves for the second reading, by which
time they may probably recruit their powers of de-
clamation, but their arguments, we suspect, were
wholly exhausted during the seven nights' debate.—
The boroughmongers, in vulgar parlance, are indeed
" hard up;" they tell us that a boroughmonger's
right to nominate Members for a rotten borough is
a vested right—a property, forsooth I—as if this
pretended right was any thing hut a daring usur-
pation.

They tell us also that a rotten borough is the only
high road to public life for men of talent,—truly,
the boroughmongers have so narrowed the high road
that lead 3 to Parliament, that men of talent would
seldom find any other access,—but when they have
been so introduced, it has mostly been for boroughs,
whose proprietors, like the Duke of NORFOLK, the
Marquis of CLEVELAND, the Duke of DEVONSIEIRE,
&c. have seized the first moment to lay them, a
splendid offering, on the altar of their country. They
who oppose the measure are boroughmongers, who
nominate themselves or their tools, jobbers in legis-
lation, men whose talent is found only in their
pocket, who buy their seats, to sell themselves, and
barter away the best interests of their country, that
they may share the plunder of the public.
They talk of " the Constitution," and preserving
" the institutions of the country," meaning thereby
the preservation of the rotten boroughs, that bo-
roughmongers may continue to ride rough-shod
over the people,—then with brazen trump, they
bray forth their patriotism ! which never yet ex-
tended beyond themselves and their fellows, and is
rely like the moral honesty of some other worthies,
with whom they may appropriately cbaunt in chorus,

" I like to seem honest, though I cheat when I can,
But when I can't cheat, I'm a true honest man."

Seeing the measure must pass, the borough-
mongers are preparing to attack the details in the
hope (vain hope !) of being able to deprive the Bill
of all its virtue, and leave it nothing but a name.
The people of England, however, will be satisfied
with nothing but the ENTIRE measure brought for-
ward by Government, unmutilated by amendments
to save or serve the boroughmongers, whose inte-
rests have always been, and always must be, directly
opposed to the best interests of the country. Sir
ROBERT PEEL has declared Le will not move any
amendment—this duty, it is therefore presumed, will
devolve on Messrs. TIVISS, GOULBURN, CROKER,
or some other minor myrmidons, whose political
talents are in excellent keeping with their political
integrity, and who (to take them at their own esti-
mate) are—capable of any thing ! S.r CHARLES
WETHERELL, with his usual acuteness, anticipating
the result, began by making his last dying speech,
which he will continue at intervals, till like a
dying swan, his voice sounds the last knell
of the boroughmongers, when the Bill shall
pass amid the deafening cheers of the House,
and the grateful plaudits of the country. There is
little doubt the Learned Gentleman will, in New.
gate phraseology, " die game," or, in borough-
mongering phraseology, " die in the last ditch ;'i
but die he will, unless released in spite of himself,
from the degradation of sitting in Parliament, the
nominee of a borouglimortger, he can condescend
to become the representative of his countrymen :
but " while there is life there is hope," and we are
unwilling to forego the hope, that the Learned
Gentleman may still give his " posthumous" sup-
port, to what he has been pleased to term " a
posthumous Bill," snd be counted at last among
its supporters.

The boroughmongers are judges in their own
cause,—sit in the House,—and are, as it were, in
possession of the citadel, from which they will only
be driven by the most determined perseverance.
Let the efforts of the people then be steady, un_
ceasing, and unanimous, until by "a long pull, a
strong pull, and a pull altogether," they destroy the
hydra, which if they fail to crush, will not fail to
crud► them. The struggle is momentous; but the
triumph will be more proud, more lasting, more
beneficial and salutary, than any the nation has yet
achieved, and compared with which the glories of
Waterloo will sink into the shade, and be lost in
utter insignificance.

The prayer of the Petition of the Merchants and
Ship-owners engaged in the Colonial Trade is one
which we are sure is not likely to be disregarded by
the Government. It is as follows :—" That your
Honourable House will resist all propositions which
may be submitted to it, subversive of the British
colonial, shipping, and manufacturing interests." The
House, and the Ministers, would, indeed, be culpable,
if they were to attempt to subvert such important
branches of industry as those in question ; and we
greatly lament the prevalence of the impression that
any such interests are either despised or neglected by
his Majesty's Ministers. We believe the very reverse
to be the fact.

The principle upon which the Government is
acting, in commercial as well ai in constitutional
matters, is this very simple one—that the public
good is to be preferred to private interests, be they
who, or what, they may. If the interest of the
British consumer be that he should be allowed to
buy a good instead of being forced to buy a bad
article—that the Baltic traders should have fair play
against the traders with Canada—and that the re-
commendation of the Parliamentary Committee of
1821, so long unaccountably neglected to be acted
on, should be carried into effect, it is, upon the prin-
ciple referred to, perfeclly clear, that any supposed
interest of the Canada traders ought not to inter-
fere with justice being done to the public. By the
reduction of ss. per load on Baltic timber, the land-
owners, and the public in general, will obtain that
commodity at a cheaper rate than heretofore, and, at
the same time, the revenue will benefit by the augmen-
tation in the colonial timber duty, for the purpose of

equalization. The shipping interest will be a gainer
some degree, by the reduction in the price of timber
for ship-building, and for all the purposes of °rained
life, and the inhabitants of this country will all blat
gainers in a great degree, although the duty is 33'.
to be reduced to 30s. per load, as Sir HEN° PAW
NELL, and other financiers, have so stronglY real
mended, but is to be fixed at 50s. per load.
Now, what claims has the Canada trade to pre'
fer, in opposition to this measure of an otherwise Mr
doubted beneficial tendency ? None that we casdi
perceive,
and, of the justice of those pretensions, some
to a monopoly, in her character of a British colony;
beyond theimaginary pretensions of Calla
may be formed by reflecting on the fact that Cai!
has cost us, first and last, sixty millions sterll
already, and that the annual charge, on her sec°lll
on the British treasury, is full 600,000/. per str°u";
which yes'
progress if the plan of fortifications in
in, the e:f
progress has been made, be persisted
short
he
pence of these alone will probably not fall
three millions ; and these circumstances eugh_.„,t •telt
more especially to be borne in mind since pare'
is called on to perpetuate a system oft azri°l/
which the British public have for years lost sbinit
floods

million and a half per annum. e si to
The truth of the matter is,—and it is non°, the
attempt to controvert it by idle assertions abe%ies,
magnificence of a colonial empire,—that
like Canada, which furnish the mother countrY
t
titer with revenue, nor a military force, only t, If
facilitate the destruction and waste of capiteLte,
Canada were, at this moment,an independest'77l,o
we should possess every commercial advantage
we now have with respect to her, and neither °
al'
shipping, our manufactures, or our commerce/
sustain the slightest loss. The United Steirch
the best possible proof of the readiness with do
our manufactures are received in all par" °tiisit
world to which they are valuable, on account lot
cheapness and excellence; and no man, in the
degree acquainted with trade, supposes that
fact of Canada or Jamaica being colonies 111101
influence upon the sale of those cottons Our also
o
ware, in the vent of which the greatness
kingdom in respect to other Powers mainly eeerlor
It is hardly possible to expre,3s suffieieetlY4 001
disgust at the ignorant abuse which was oljee
the occasion of the meeting at the Freeman e'
Tavern, at those illustrious philosophers and 4;01
men who have been labouring for the last fift)Stio
to augment the wealth and prosperity of ,fe.'
Britain, by the application to her peculiar eirroceH
stances of those principles which political °leo,/
has demonstrated to be true in the abstract. W..ee.
it is disgraceful, that a man of a good traderso;
ing, like Mr. Alderman THOMPSON, should Ofirior
llto his audience at " their common disrege'iii•
the theoretical and visionary dogmas of philes,ePtlie
cal Statesmen, whose advice would prostra'e Asp
dust the shipping and colonial interests 7 B'e;° he
So the boroughmongers say, their property ,e,",.
prostrated in the dust by the Reform Bill,
them, Russell's Purge is what Allhorp's Pa T one'
to the Canada timber monopolists. To b° ,1
and the other justice is hateful ; but theYi be
nevertheless alike be assured that justice Ot'rott
done by the Government, and that peculiar istetios
will only be set aside, so far, and no further, fbe
the interest and safety of the public require' ettir
colonial interests will not be neglected, °tor
verted, but they must be taught that there are "ope•
interests somewhat paramount to those of 010/3
lists.

SIIIPPING INTELLIGENCE-(THIS

FROM LLOYD'S. :j
DEAL, MARCH 15.—Wind S.W. to W.S.W. bIOVP
fresh in squalls.—The outward-bound remain. It'''.
thc Lord Nelson, Wilson, from St. Michael's. pi 0'
FALMOUTH, MARCH 14..—Wind S.W. tO •*:o;itir-
strong gales with violent squalls.—Put back the
packet, for Halifax and Bermuda. /Or
LIVERPOOL, Maacat 147—Arrived the Vests, 00
vun, and Majestic, M'Keller, from New Orleans +'
Coggans, from Mobile; Acorn, Luce, from Day G A 00134
Sylph, from Madeira; Constitution, from Salon; fialis
Christie, from Tarragona ; and Eola, Sannolll4
Barcelona.