The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-02-23 00:00:00

V7,be Ilibcipoot eStanDarti.

TUESDAY 11101LVING, FEBIWARY 23, 1836.

Lord WILLIAM BENTINCK has been chosen by the
electors of Glasgow as their representative in the House
of Commons. We are glad of this, for it will do good
by showing the power and the ignorance of the faction
which has been permitted to dictate to the reformers of
the first commercial and manufacturing town in Scotland.

There are blockheads to Whom reasoning would be ad-
dressed in vain, but who, nevertheless, would feel the
force of ridicule. The reformers of Glasgow may be too
reckless to regard the one, and too obtuse to appreciate
the other; but dull and reckless they must be if they can
fora single moment reflect upon the disgraceful position
they have placed themselves in, and the vile slaves they
have proved themselves to be, without blushing—with-
out being conscious that the finger of scorn and contempt
js Pointed at them by all honest men.
Are the gentlemen of Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire
so degenerate that no man capable of discharging the du-
ties of a representative for Glasgow 'could be found
amongst them Is Scotland so miserably fallen that it
cannot furnish a member for the' city of St. MUNGO?
Could no landowner, merchant, banker, or manufacturer
Of adequate talent and independence be found, that it
was necessary to import from the morning retreats of the
physic wells of Cheltenham, the remains of an Indian
~cirief— broken-do - house of
PORTLAND ? We have used the word import, and we
beg pardon. Lord WILLIAM BENTINCH: would not con-
descend to be treated as a chattel, nor suffer his weakness
or his biliousness to be exposed before the weavers of
Glasgow! Enough for them that they had a lord by
courtesy to represent them in parliament. The noble I
candidate knew that his battered frame, at his period of
life, was more securely and conveniently deposited in
warm apartments in Cheltenham than in bearding the
snow storms of the north, or standing uncovered amid a
shower of sleet, addressing sweet words of cant and by-
pocrisy. to the unwashed portion of his constipents. Re-
turn me, gentlemen, he said, if you please-4.am willing
to serve you—l am opposed to corn laVy's' and new
churches—l detest the ballot, but lam willing to vote
for it—i prefer moderately long parliaments, being the
cheapest for me, but I am prepared to vote for annual
ones—therefore return me, if you please, but don't be
such fools as to imagine that I am likely to leave my
quarters and disturb my olfactories by encountering a set
of persons for whom I entertain, GOD forgive nie, the
most &e. Ste. &C.

We do not say that Lord WILLIAM BENTINCK wrote
any such honest letter as the concluding sentence of the
above imaginary extract would ascribe to him ; and we
say so simply because we believe that his lordship has
not sufficient candour to do any thing of the kind; but
that he thought and thinks all and much more than we
have attributed to him we have no doubt whatever. That
he holds in contempt the very grovelling persons who
returned him is rather a favourable trait in his character.
For what man can respect a set of electors who send him
to parliament, at the bidding of a local cabal, who have
sold themselves and their dupes to his Majesty's minis-
ter—he Lord WILLIAM, who knows just as much of
Glasgow as the common carrier who is a common coun-
cillor of Stockport knows of the road between Memphis

and Timbnctoo ? How can the representative respect
the constituent body when he finds they have no respect
for themselves, and would, if directed by the base faction
which tramples upon them,. return Lord WILLIAM's

brown servant in preference to himself?
kis not only necessary for the common interests of
the country that the representative should be intimately
accpiainted with the varied interests of his constituents,

but that the electors should know something of the cha-
racter, the talents, the principles, and the physical powers
of their candidate. We have said that Lord WILLIAM
BENTINCK is not only a total stranger to' the inhabitants
but to the interests of the city. He has admitted this.
He is willing to obey, but he confesses he is not compe-
tent to advise or instruct, He is to be the apothecary
only of the electors of Glasgow. He is to compound the
medicine which the weaver-bottomed physicians of the
clique prescribe. He is only to pound, and grind, and
mix, and administer, as they direct. He is to place all
his patronage in their hands, for the benefit of themselves
and families. He is to pull down churches, build bridges,
dive into common sewers, and deepen rivers as they
I command. Being entirely ignorant of local affairs be
will be the easier led and the easier imposed upon. This
is just the man to do the work of the vile faction which
have their feet upon the necks of the reformers of Glas-
gow, and have made their names and reputation the ri-
dicule of the whole country.

But if Lord WILLIAM be a stranger to the electors of
Glasgow, what Can the electors know of him ? Who is

Lord WILLIAM BENTINCK ? We have said he held a
high office in India. He was governor-general of the
largest empire in the world, and yet he had the rare for-.
tune to return to Engl Ind the same Lord WILLIAM BEN.-
TINCK that went—undistinguished by any honours—un-
marked by any royal favours ; for when coronets were
as plentiful as barrel organs in the streets, none was prof-
fered to the late governor-general ! Previous to this the
noble lord had obtained some notoriety, not renown, in
Sicily. But passing over his military mistakes, and his
diplomatic errors, who heard of Lord WILLIAM BEN-
TINCK, even in his best days, being fit to represent the
commercial interests of any important cou►wnuity
in
parliament ?
We should not consider it a difficult task to prove that