The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-01-02 00:00:00

-m-vvrT,merlegffileiNPONll,
..08BEL-FTT'S FIRST ADDRESS.
TO THE. ELgefrolt* vy TER OfFT OF PETER-
-13911911917—
SOoloArrnllesbinit. 1, 1823.
GENTLEMIN—Many bsve Imomieske aerations on which
I have oheerved attempts 114141,11..te deceive, cajole, de.
base, and Instal; my,eountrytnen or partiCular portions
of them : and, I mist it can with truth be said of me,
that I never, on &welch occasion, neglected to do my
utmost, .to inflict chastisement upon the parties from
whom proceeded each attempts. Without number have
1 witnessed attempts of this kind ; hut, and you and the
public will read* believe me, never did I witness one
equal in baseness and ender:Style that conveyed in a letter
purporting to be addressed to you and signed with the name
s, of J. Scant err," dated on the 4th of Dec., and pub-
lished yesterday in the London Courier newspaper. Ac-
' cordingto those rules of fair play, by which I trust I
have always squared my conduct, I will, before I submit
to you any remarks on this yrodieoon, lay before you
and the public the product/0'441F. which I find pub.
'Tithed as before-mentioned in the following never-to-be.
forgotten words.

MR.

" OiNTLVININ—Nothing but the pressure of my pea-
l' "fessional engagementsprovented me from waiting upon
." yes immediately upon the conclusion of the contest
• " for the University of Cambridge ; I intend, however, to
• have that pleasure as soon as lam released from my
1 " present duties, which I trust will not be later than the
• " approaching holidays. If I postpone till that period
" an c.eplanation of the motives which induced me to
" embark in that contest, it is because I feel not only
" that it is my duty to give you this explanation in per-
" son, but such null be the most satisfactory method of
"doing it. In the meantime I trust you will do me the
"justice to believe that I set the " highest value upon
" the honour of representing you in Parliament, and
" that the particular circumstances which led me to
•' contend fora share in the representation of the learn.
"in and science which distinguish the place of my
" education, and of my early associations, were per-
" fecdy consistent with the profoundest respect for the
" electors tf Peterborough, and with the most grateful
recollectfoh of their pattfavours. Be assured, gees
demon, that I shall in every situation, ana at all
•' finials cansider your interests and prosperity as
amongst the very first objects of my duty, and that is
soliciting a continuance of your favour and support of
.t 4 the Election, which I fear must be the consequence
" of my recent struggle, 1 ask for that which is amongst
" the dearest objects of my reverence and attention.
" I have the honour to be, gentlemen,
" Your most obliged and faithful Servant,
" J. SC A RLETT.
" New•street, Spring-gardens, Dec. 4, 1822."
Gentlemen, I am almost ashamed to be the cause of
putting this horrible piece of insolence into print--
The thing may be a fabrication, for aught I know. For
• the honour of human nature I would fain believe
,to be such ; to save the human form from the just im-
.putation of a thing so mean as this Letter bespeaks its
4 "author to be, I would fain hope that even Lawyer SCAR-
; :Imre never wrote it. I will take it, therefore, if you
'please, merely as a publication ; my observations shall
be hypothetical ; I shall suppose, and merely suppose,
the thing to be genuine; and upon that supposition,
• proceed to offei you my remarks upon it. You will be
so good as to let me know by return of post, whether it
be guanine or not.
The Lawyer reserves his explanation of motives, until
he sees you ; or, rather, until be sees US; for I, gen-
• tlemen, mean to be present at this explanation. In the
mean time, however, he tells you, that justice requires
that you should believe that he sets the "highest value"
upon the honour of representing you; though,in dm very
same document he confelses, that be has been carrying
on " a struggle" for the sake of representing somebody
• ,wise instead of you ! Upon the supposition that the
• Lawyer's mortification has not driven him mad, this is
amongst the grossest pieces of insult, that ever were
offered to mortal man. However, far is be from stopping
here. He says, be has the "profoundest respect" for
yon ; that he has " a grateful recollection of your past
" favor:vs" ; that your " interests and prosperity are
" amongst the first objects of his duty" (which, by the
bye, is nonsense); that be asks you for support as being
amongst " the dearest objects of his reverence and at.
"tendon ;" and all this while be knows that every man
of you knows, that he turned his back upon you, that he
quitted you as a man quits an old worthless garment ;
that he has been fighting tooth and nail to get chosen
by others instead of you ; and that having failed in
that struggle, he now comes fawning back to you
again !
Gentlemen, Electors of Peterborough ! men have
different opinions as to the degrees of censure and of
scorn due to different acts of self-abasement ; lint, in one
- thing all mankind are agreed; and that is this, that,
amongst the unmarried, the citify, and that amongst the
married, the contented cuckold, are the most despicable
of all mankind ! The despicableness belonging to both
these characters, would now belong to the Electors Of
Peterborough, if they were to re-elect this man. He
loves you most yet! 'Ti. yon, dear souls, whose favours
are amongst the " dearest objects of his reverence and
" attention !" One would think be was writing to his
sweetheart. Oh, yes; your favours are the dearest
objects, and so says the abandoned strumpet, when, cast,
off by the paramour with whom she has gone off,.
abe comes back, throws her arms about the neck and'
besloLbers with both spittle and tears the face of her
stupid and base forgiver! Gentlemen, there is no
generosity in forgiveness like this: it is pure baseaess
and cowardice ; and these are terms which I would fain
hope will never be justly applied to the Electors of Peter-
borough.
These remarks, you will observe, do not apply to the
conduct of Mr. SCARLETT, if he have written no such
letter. If he have written such a letter, this is far from ,
being the last that either he or you will hear from me.
In short, I intent? to be at the election, in which I trust
a Noble Lord, now said to be an advocate for Parlia-
mentary Reform, will by no means attempt to interfere.
Whether I shall do myself the very great honour of
presenting myself before you as a candidate, will depend
upon circumstances. The writer of the above letter says
*at he fears you must have an election! What, is this
a thing to fear? Did he then suppose that there was
• sot to be even the forms of en election ? I hope there
will be an election, and in that election I hope to act a
. le. Spamarr may not hays written this letter •
if he haw, I trot that he will not give as math tremble'

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