The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-11-15 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

THE VOICE or THE NATION.—Quern Deus cult perdere
prius dementat. This is a trite adage, but like must
proverbs in general use, its truth is proved by hourly
experience. The "creeping things" to whom, by the
inscrutable dispensations of Providence, have been com-
mitted for a brief space the destinies of this mighty em-
pire—those modern Phaetons, from whose frightened
hands the reigns of government have dropped, leaving
us to he whirled along the erratic course which threatens
the whole social system with destruction—have yet so far
forgotten of what they were made, and have become so
blinded to the consequences of their own acts, that not
only have they been led to believe that the high places
in which they have been set up have been the rewards of
their own supposed merits, but that they will be theirs
for ever. Surrounded by the fawning parasites whom a
cringing spirit and a hungry belly have fashioned for
their communion, and carefully eschewing, as one of
their most distinguished leaders had the ox-like stupidity
to own, any chance of acquiring sound information by
perusing conservative publications, what inlet remains for
the light of truth to enter ? We sometimes think that the
feline tenacity of office, which Mr. D. W. Harvey as-
cribes to them, is not so much owing to the energy of
desperation, or the sense of insecurity, as to the playful
clutch of satisfied self-sufficiency, at once the cause and
effect of a blissful ignorance.
Yet blind as they are, even these laughing-stocks can
feel when they run against a post. They have just sense
enough to discover that they cannot do exactly as they
please, as long as the House of Lords presents a break-
water to the proud waves of revolution and anarchy.
Therefore is it that in those receptacles which nature has
in other men filled with cerebral marrow, but which in
their case appears to haVe been choked up with froth and
wind, the natural workings of their own vanity, they have
engendered an idea, which, after severe throes, has at
length been brought to the world's light. This mon-
strous birth amounts in plain language to this, that, if
they can call another parliament; and secure' a larger
majority than they command in the present House of
Commons, which they are besotted enough to think they
can do, they shall be able to overawe, or at least swamp,
the House of Peers. Full, therefore, of this vain delu-
sion, they have determined, as their daily and weekly
organs assure us, to send the present representatives of
the Commons of the United Kingdom back to their con-
stituents. We are not in their confidence, God forbid
we should ever be,—" Oh, my soul, come not thou into
their secrets!"—and, therefore, we do not pretend to as•
sort that they will do so. We have long ceased to be
astonished at anything, or this crowning act of ministerial
madness would, did we not take into consideration their
peculiar pschvcological structure, elevate our eyebrows
not a little. But we shall argue as if we were fully con-
vinced that a dissolution of parliament was approaching,
and demonstrate by proofs, that only fall short of mathe-
matical certainty, the utter ignorance of the true state of
publie• feeling in which the whigs have enveloped them-
selves. They assert that the voice of the nation is in
their favour. Passing by the definition given ofa nation
by the nominal head of the government, in his place in
the House of Lords, in which, by a kind of exhaustive
process, he seemed to be desirous of showing what it was
by pointing out what it was not—and yet, no—we will
not pass it by. He said (we quote from memory) that it
was not the clergy, it was not the nobility, it was not the
merchants, it was not the universities, it was not the pro-
perty of the country. Then what is it ? Where are we
to find the nation ? In what do we hear its voice? At
the elections for county members ? At the festivals of
tradesmen's and operatives' conservative associations?
Oh, no ; these form no part of the nation. But where
are we to find it ? Echo answers " where ?" They are
mute. But we will speak for them ; and we declare, that
the voice of the nation speaks through its constituency.
That is the organ which the constitution has assigned for
the expression of its will. To the nation, through that
constituency, the Miles threaten to appeal. So be it.
We joyfully join battle with them on such a vantage
ground. We shall now, if our readers will bear with us,
enter upon an analytical summary of the changes that
must take place in the next parliament, and they will see
whether the whigs will gain much by a dissolution. The
data on which these assertions are made have been care-
fully collected from various sources for some time back,
and their accuracy may be relied upon. We owe much
to the local information afforded us by private friends and
correspondents, to whom we take this opportunity of re
turning our warmest acknowledgments. A great deal
has been gathered front circumstances which are open to
the public to form their own judgment on, and this has
again been compared with and corrected by our own pri-
vate information. We will now proceed, and take alpha-
betically all the boroughs, cities, and counties, that return
members to the imperial parliament.
The first upon the list is Boston. The whigs may
laugh at this. They laughed before, when Mr. Brown •
rigg talked of opposing Wilks and Handley ; but their
note changed when that excellent conservative headed
the poll, by a majority of 180. Boston will give Mr.
• Brownrigg a conservative colleague. Cambridgeshire
will return three conservatives instead of two ; and Cam-
bridge will be no longer misrepresented by Mr. Pryme,
who will be replaced by a true conservative. Lord Al-
bert Conynghatn will not deny that he would have taken
office in April, 1835, if his seat for Canterbury had been
safe. He may rely upon it that lie will not sit for Can-
terbury again. The places which we are about to men-
tion will every one of, them return conservatives in lieu
of whig-radical members. South Cheshire, where Mr.
Wilbraham goes to the wall. East Cornwall returns
Lord Eliot by a triumphant majority, and might give his
lordship a conservative colleague, but at present we are
dealing- with certainties. Coventry ejects Mr. Ellice.
Mr. T. Gisborne, like a prudent dog, retreats front North
Derbyshire, before he is kicked down stairs. North
Devonshire will partly redeem its character, by return-
ing one conservative. Dorsetshire only wanted a con-
servative candidate last time to return three. The elec-
tors will not have to look for one at the next election.
Exeter spurns Mr. Divett. Greenwich will return Mr.
Attwood. In Guildford, Halifax, and North Hampshire,
the struggle will be severe, but successful: Hereford-
shire will send us another constitutional member. So
will both Hertfordshire and Hertford. Hull will place a
conservative at the head of the poll. Ipswich gives us
two. West Kent will have nothing to do with Mr.
Hodges. Leeds laughs at Mr. Baines's attempt to cajole
the electors. The conservatives have the game in their
own hands. North Leicestershire will revenge itself
upon Mr. Mark Phillips, by ejecting him from the repre-
sentation. Lewes gives us one, probably two, but we
score one only. Essex will rival " the proud Salopians,"
and by turning Lennard out of Maldon, return twelve
cvvo.rnitseerivhaetinvarne,
emembers. Middlesex, with what joy do we
has 1,500 votes to spare for the return of
two conservatives. Monmouth, Newport, (Isle of Wight,)
Norfolk West, (two,) Penrvn, Perthshire, Pool, Radnor-
shire, Rochester, Staffordshire South, and St. Albans,
make a goodly show. But the list is net vet exhausted,
and we shall conclude by enumerating West Suffolk,
East Sun ey, Wigan, Isle of Wight, West and East Wor-
cestershire, and last, not least, York. We have here
specified forty-six seats at present occupied by whig-ra-
dicals, which in the next parliament will be filled by con-
servatives. And absolutely the only set oil to this im-
posing array is the possible loss of one sent at Drogheda,
for our private information leads us to believe that if the
conservatives exert themselves, Dublin is safe. This
leaves us a clear gain of 45. But 45 gained on the one
side, and 45 lost on the other, make, according to Cocker,
not Joe Hume's edition, a difference of DO, and deduct-
ing 40, a very liberal allowance, for tho esent minis-
terial majority Will leave the conservatives, with Sir 110.;
Bert Peel at their head, a clear majority of 50 in the
House of Commons, to carry on the King's government.
We presume that the radical faction themselves, shame.
less as they are, will not have the effrontery to say that
this majority is too small, when they have tried to govern
the country with a smaller number, and with the Upper
House of Parliament hostile to their system of policy.
But we lave a great deal more to say yet before we have
done with them. We shall now set down a list of places
which we think, either from the close run the conserva-
tives gave the radicals at the last election, or the exten-
sive spread of constitutional principles, will in all proba-
bility return us at least one, conservative member. We
can only spare room for a dry enumeration. Armagh,
Ashburton, Ayrshire, Avr dist' ict, Bath, Bolton, Bridge-
water, Brighton, Buckingham, Cardigan district, Car
marthenshire, Cheltenham, North Cheshire, Clonmel,
Derby, Devonport, Dublin county, Dumbartonshire,
Dumfries district, North Durham, South Durham, Edin-
burgh, Ennis, Forfarshire, Gateshead, Glasgow, Great
Grimsby. Haddingtonshire, Hastings, Horsham, Hun-
tingdonshire, Kidderminster, Lambeth, London, Marv-
lebone, Nottingham, Plymouth. Portsmouth, Sallor'd,
Sandwich, Sheffield, \Vest Somersetshire, Stockport, Sud-
bury, Taunton, Wakefield, Westmeath, Wycombe, anti
Youghnl. Here are, in round numbers, fifty, and even
admitting, that in twenty-five of these, success may not
keep company with desert, another 25, displacing 25 re-
formers will swell the conservative majority to 100. In
making these calculations we have studiously kept within
compass. Every man acquainted with the places enu-
merated will acknowledge the accuracy of our informa-
tion. But we solemnly warn all conservatives that to
attain this mighty end, they mug strain every nerve.
The contest that approaches will not be an ordinary
struggle. It will be for life and death. Upon its issue
depends the safety or the destruction of all that we have
been accustomed to hold dear and sacred. Let us hear
of no apathy, and above all let not that hated word "com-
promise" be whispered among us. Let each man act as
if the result depended upon him alone. Start whenever
you can with the slightest chance of success a conserva-
tive candidate, and be up and doing at once. Let the
electors of every city, borough, and county within the
empire select their candidates, organize their committees,
and put on their harness for the battle. The dissolution
may come upon them as a thief' in the night. Then of