The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-12-22 00:00:00

Chemists of Europe to melt the wax or mar a letter of it.
But our second point has reference to the moral effect
or the reform bill, as described by the angry and disap-
pointed correspondent of Ihe Morning Chronicle. What
says the scribe, who is evidently some agent of the FITZ-
'WILLIAM family—some parson, perhaps, hunting for whig
promotion—or, perchance, a Northampton attorney,'
guiltless of clients, and seeking a patron ? He says that
the electors of Northamptonshire, who have returned
MAUNSELL, are " the most ignorant, drunken, and
I3RUTAL electors in these kingdoms"! !
By " these kingdoms" the rogue nb doubt meant to
include Ireland. By his' account then the electors of
Northampton are more "ignorant, drunken, and brutal-
. than the priest-ridden slaves of the county of Carlow in
Ireland, who were dragged and driven to the poll by ine-
briated monks, flourishing crucifixes over their heads,
Under the fanatical inspiration of strong drinkdragged
and driven, we say, to the p011,.,by these priestly black-
guards, in a much more " brutal" and revolting manner
than bullockiare driven to the shatilbles. But *hen did
we hear of a whig journalist complaining of these horrid
and beastly outrages ? When did we hear of a whig
complaining of the wholesale perjuries committed at the
last Dublin election in support of O'CONNELL ? When
dirt they lament the drunken rabble which carried his
Majesty's Attorney-General into- Dudley with the tri-
coloured flag flying before his eyes? When was any re •
gret expressed at the rabble excesses which disgraced the
Cork election ? No, the Morning Chronicle had no ho-
nest correspondent on those occasions. It was not until
Saturday. last, when. the whig candidate was beaten, that
the ignorMne, drunkenness, and brutality, of the
,Nor-
thamptonshire farmers were found to exceed the rude,
violent, and brutal excesses of a , popish contest, the
voters being led by their ghostly flatter confessors. ,
Englishmen ! English yeomen! English farmers! re
~. member this! Never let it be forgotten, as a wholesome
lesson,: ,whils- you b-•ee a diet ---=A-,4n illis-teri al jon rnal--;-a.-
Lord JOHN RUSSELL gazette—calls you -an ignorant,
drunken, •and brutal race, not one whit better than
SWINE! - rite this, farmers of England! write this on
r 0.;... the cow'
.' your market books—whenever you see a
.-' . seine think of the Morning Chronicle—tell your..daugh,
ters to work the foul words in their samplers—remember
that it was the twigs who called you this—thrat it was a
liberal paper which thus disgraced itself by insulting you ;
and consider it a sacred duty, in all time coming, to make
every whig, every liberal, every agent of -a whig, every
shabby person seeking whig patronage, every whig at-
torney, pay dearly for the insult !
But supposing the allegation to be true, and that the
electors of Northamptonshire have degenerated into the
state of loathsome demoralization so soberly described by
the correspondent of the Chronicle, what would the ram-
pant reformers gain by the concession? They are either
better-or worse now, with respect to good behaviour, than
they were five years ago. If they have degenerated in
morals, pray what has the reform bill done for them ? or,
rather, tupposing the fact to be as is stated, would not
the reform-bill, to a certain extent, be made answerable
for their recent debasement ? We give the Morning
Chronicle the benefit of the alternatiVe.. If reform have
injuriously affected the moral habits of the yeomanry of
Northamptonshire, who are to blame but the whigs ? If,
on the contrary, they are the same men which they have
ever been, " ignorant, drunken, and brutal," how hap-
pens it that. we never heard of a complaint against them
while they returned as their representatives the two last
Lords MILTON ? They were honest, unflinching, and
incorruptible patriots, so long as they • voted for Whig
candidates—they are now ignorant and% brutal, because
--.•they have given their suffrages to conservative candi-
'Vt dates This is modern liberalism !
't./`•!•
The truth is, the electors of Northamptonshire are
folly sensible of the galling and slavish subjection in
which they have for many years been held by the SPEN-
CER, BEDFORP, and WENTWORTH families, and they now
see the necessity of rejecting the yoke—of thinking a
little for themselves—of canvassing the distinctions be-
tween protestant toleration and popish slavery—and whe-
ther it is not expedient to deeide now, once-and for all,
whether it is better to adhere to our national institutions,
or hand them over to popish tyrants, and sacrifice Eng-
lish liberty et the shrine-of-Irists pauperism, under-cir-
cumstances where the "most unintelligible of all ima-
ginable vagabonds" is the greatest patriot, and at the
same time the greatest swindler. •
The . people of Northamptonshire, and the people of
England generally, know better. -• •

The whig-radicals and radie4l-whigs, the unitarian
rump, and all the birds of strange feathers, who claim to
represent the burgesses of Liverpool in the new cot pora-
tion,have since yesterday morning been in a state of
comical excitement, not:altog-rther. caused by the cold
weather, and which is a pretty clear indication that they
will lose the game.

" The conse-rrati.ves..are canvassing !" exclaims one
throwing up his arms in a fit of passion and despair.
" Indeed !" whines another, with an air of affected sur-
prise. "They are, :canon my honour," joins-. in a third;
cod then the whole roar out--•" Shamefull7--disgraoe-
ful!—deceitful !—ungentlemanly !—horrible !—civil and
religious liberty in danger!—Awful eiisis!—Write to
Lord JOHN to night !" &c. &c. •

_nay, gentlemen, be cool, be seated, and listen to us
for a single moment. In the newspaper of yesterday there
is a beautiful and rare latin quotation in these words—
leas eat ab hoste doceri—the meaning of which is, "Take
a pinch of snuff and attend to a Tory." On this autho-
rity then be pleased to lend us your ears.
The constitutional forms of election in this country
have ever been favourable to the most intimate and open
communications between the'candidates for the public
-offices and the elective body. It is for the good of the
Ipeople that the man who exercises the suffrages of a
voter should be acquainted with the character and prin-
ciples of his representative, or intended representative.
The common council of so large a town as this is a sort
•of -local parliament; and no man should be permitted to
sit .there who cannot show, by his personal reputation
and the soundness of his views, that he is a comptent
person, and duly qualified to discharge the obligations of
so important a trust. .But how are the great body of

electors to ascertain this desired competency, if the can-
didates do not condescend to meet. their fellow burgesses
and explain to them the reasons why they appear before
them, the course of conduct they intend to pursue, and
the- they possess upon their confidence ? It
is folly to assume that the character and princi-
ples of any one man, particularly one who has rarely
appeared in public life, can• be known to five or Six
thousand electors. It is trite that some general know-
ledge may prevail respecting him ; but in a community
of this extent, there must be hundreds, if not thousands
of electors, who do not know the candidates personally,
Who are affected in various ways, who follow different
pursuits, or who have, or imagine they have, conflicting
interests. These burgesses may not choose to give their
votes without being permitted to question the candidates.
They may wish to possess information on many points—
they may desire to know how far the candidate will main.
taro the credit of the corporation, adhere to old customs,
and recognise previous contracts,—in fact they may wish
to obtain information on a thousand subjects which can-
not possibly be alluded to, far less discussed, in a senten-
tious and formal address. Hence the obvious necessity
for a personal canvass.

But it will perhaps be said, that the candidates can
declare their general views in writing, and allow their
friends to give any additional information that may be

requireci. How very absurd is all this! .No candidate,

no representative, can be held bound by any statements
or representations not made in his presence, and of which,
the chance is, he might not be cognoscent. What is a
staring bill stuck upon the walls ? It seldom conveys
44y satisfactory explanations, simply because it must

necessarily be brief and in general terms. In sliorti•the
only howift, straightforward, and manly way is for the
cart It, to canvass for himself, and give every elector
an opportunity to ask such questions as he may deem
proprs. " •

We rejoice, therefore, to learn that the conservatives
bave fearlessly adopted this truly honourable and consti-
utional course. He that holds back from a mistaken