Star.
London, England, 1831-05-19 00:00:00

It

I
.1

! 1

THE LORD ADVOCATE'S SPEECH ON THE RATE OF
QUALIFICATIONS.
The Times, Ccirrier, and Post.

The Tones, Courier, and Post, have been bickering,
says the Caledonian Mercury, upon a point which it seems
to us that two such strong advocates of the Reform Bill
might have settled without troubling the public, especially
as they now seem both perfectly agreed. The Times states,
" as a most positive fact, that the Bill, the Bill itself, will
be immediately brought forward after the meeting of Par-
liament, and its unqualified adoption in all its essential
features recommended by Ministers to the new Par-
liament." With the knowledge of this fact, the Times
expresses its surprise " that such a man as the Lord
Advocate of Scotland should have committed the grie-
vous error of intimating that a change might be made
in the amount of the qualification. We sincerely hope
he will see this correction of his mistake, and set himself
right." \Ve have already, adds the Mercury, stated the
correction which the Lord Advocate, at the Perth dinner,
gave of his speech ; and Saturday night, we had the
honour to receive a letter from his Lordship, entering into
still fuller details, which, if we mistake not, will set the
matter altogether at rest. It appears, that no change what-
ever will be made in the 101. qualification, either in Eng-
land or Scotland. Uneer the circumstances which have
taken place, we have no hesitation in saying, that any
change in that would have been destructive to the bill. The
following is a copy of the Lord Advocate's letter on the
subject:
Saturday earning, 14th May, 1831.
Sift,—i am concerned to observe, both from the newspapers, and
other sources of information, that great misconception appears still to
prevail, as to the import of certain expressions, which I ant supposed
to have used in the Council Chamber of this City, when addressing
the Town Council on the day for election of their Member; and that
far more importance is, on both sides, ascribed to those expret-sione
than in truth belongs them. You will permit me, therefore, to correct
the erroneous accounts which have been circulated of my statement, and
to explain to what it really amounted.
In the first place, I never said, or insinuated, that I believed nothing
was fixed or uetermined as to the rate of qualification to be introduced
in the new bill--and that it might as well be 1001. m 501. or 251. as
any lower sum.— What I said, in reference to these sums, was exactly
the reverse of this supposed intimation.
In the second place, and what is far more material, I said nothing
at all upon this subject of the qualification, as on the authority of the
Government, or in the character of a person acquainted with their de-
signs. On the contrary, I took pains to explain that I had no other
grounds of knowledge or belief, than were open to every one who heard
me—that, if I had been entrusted with the Councils of the Cabi-
net, I certainly should not feel myself at liberty to reveal them—
but that I was in no danger of betraying what had never been con-
fided to me. _

After this declaration, what I said on the subject of the qualification
was nearly as follows :—I mentioned that I had received many com-
plaints as to the rate of qualification in the former bill, especially as to
house property in counties—and many suggestions as to its being raised
or varied in different situations; all which I had reported, as in duty
bound, to the Government. I then said that these, and every other re-
spectful suggestion, would of course be fully considered by the minis-
ters ; and, while I had not the slightest reason to believe or suspect thut
there would be any change in the qualifications formerly announced, I
tilt confident that it would be considered as one of the principles of the
bill, to keep to what would be looked upon in this country as a very
low qualification, by which 1 meant something far below 1001. or 501
or the half of 501

These I think were nearly the words 1 used—and I am perfectly
certain that such was the meaning I intended to convey. I stated
nothing whatever as to my knowledge (or conjecture even) of the in-
tentions of the Ministry, and meant merely to intimate that, while I
had not the slightest ground to suppose that they would make any
change in the qualificetions specified in the former bill, it wa, my
own confident belief and persuasion, Ds an individual, that they would
consider the lowness of the qualification as a fundamental principle of
the measure.

I may add that, since I made these observations, I am more and
more confident in the belief, that no change will be attempted in the
rate of qualification formerly announced.
I have the honour to be, Sir, your very obedient servant,
F. JEFFREY.

SIIt JOHN MILLEY DOYLE, K.C.B. M.P.—On Sa-
turday evening Sir J. M. Doyle, K.C.B. and member of
parliament for the County Carlow, visited his country resi-
dence at Sandymount. The moment that his presence
amongst them was ascertained by the inhabitants of this
little village, they immediately lighted tar-barrels, to
demonstate their joy at the success of this gallant
Irishman in being nominated by the people as one
of their representatives to support the ministry in carrying
the reform bill. Sir J. M. Doyle appeared amongst those
worthy people, to return them thanks for the compliment
they paid him. He was received with the most hearty and
enthusiastic cheers, and they through the munificence of
this gallant, honest, and distinguished Irishman, continued
to pass the evening in the most innocent and cordial
pleasures-
When Mr. R. A. Dundas was passing along the Mound
from the Edinburgh county election, with Baron Clerk Rat-
tray, stones were thrown at him by several boys, two of
whom were caught in the fact by the police. Mr. Dundas
having since found out who they were, and learned from their
employers that they were well-behaved lads in other respects,
addressed the Judge of Police upon the subject, request-
ing that they might be let off without any other punish-
ment, than such a reprimand as might serve as a warning
to them against committing similar offences in future. This
was accordingly done.
A piece of trickery has just come to our knowledge with
regard to the Northamptonshire election, which we think it
right to publish, in order to put the London freeholders of
that county on their guard against such practices. An
agent, or friend of Mr. Cartwright called on a Northamp-
tonshire freeholder, resident near Smithfield, and solicited
his vote on behalf of Lord Althorp and Mr. Cartwright,
thereby covertly endeavouring to procure a vote for Mr.
Cartwright, at the expense of Lord Milton, by making the
voter belive that Lord Althorp and Mr. Cartwright were em-
barked in the. same cause. ' Really' as the late Lord Liver-
pool would have said, ' this is too bad.'
Of the Irish Members, 68 are returned. Of these 47 are
declared Reformers; 19 are declared anti-reformers, and 2
who have objected to the extent of the Bill will, it is sup-
posed,
vote ultimately for it. Majority of declared reformers
over declared anti-reformers, 28. The places, the result of

the elections in which is at present undeclared, are Clare,
Cavan, Down, Donegal, Dublin City, Fermanagh, King's
County, Leitrim, County Londonderry, Louth, Mayo, Ros-
common, Sligo, Tyrone, County Wexford. Of these, Clare,
Down, Dublin City , the King's County, Kerry, Louth, Mayo,
Roscommon, and Wexford County will certainly return 14 re-
formers ; Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Sligo, Tyrone
will, we fear, certainly return 9 anti-reformers. Of the re-
maining 9 Members, 6 will, most probably, be reformers.—
The certain majority in favour of the bill from Ireland is 33 ;1
and it may be, with sufficient safety, calculated that this will
be raised to 38. Of the Irish counties, nineteen, or nearly
two-thirds, return each two reformers ; and three more,
Wexford, Roscommon, Kerry, will most probably follow
the same noble example. Four counties return each two
anti-reformers; one returns a reformer and anti-reformer;
and the five remaining counties will, most probably, send one
of each party. Of the cities and large towns, where the
popular voice is not totally suppressed, there is an over-
whelming preponderance for us. Dublin, Cork, Limerick,
Waterford, Belfast, Kilkenny, Derry, Wexford, -Galway,
&c. return reformers. Two open boroughs, Drogheda and
the University, have sent anti-reformers. J. H. Knox, the
member for Newry, will, it is asserted, vote for the bill. Of
nineteen close boroughs, fifteen have returned anti-riform-;
. era, and but four reformers. Must thatifystem exist,which
makes fifteen individuals neutralise the wisharanAMPlNftions
7.
of eight counties over one-fourth uttaudnedosti