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of Tory Nominations still further decreased. Nominations did we say? oh, no! the Whigs assured us that no Nominations would survive-many places formerly under Whig, and a few under Tory influence, would, they confessed, still return members, but the new constituency, they averred, was so arranged, that nothing like either Whig or Tory Nomination could exist; and this Bill, which contradicted and stultified, in so many flagrant instances, the Bill which had so lately passed by such overwhelming majorities, was now passed by majorities still more enormous, and, as we shall see, equally infallible. But again, this Bill too was lost and the ministers who had vouched, and the House of Commons which had voted, that the two former standards were fair and just, now discovered that they were neither; and a third and different standard was therefore proposed, which, after so much doubt and contradiction, was to be, after all, the real Simon Pure.

The Bill, founded on this new, and at last pure, standard, passed; and we shall now proceed to show, by the unerring test of the elections, how truly it has executed its promised purpose of extinguishing Whig Nomination. Early in the session Mr. Hume moved for some returns to show the practical operation of the Reform Act, but they do not appear to have been yet made, though we should have supposed that one week would have been sufficient to collect them, for, as we understood his motion, the materials were all ready, and only required being copied out; butas we have not these more exact materials-we must content ourselves with the information supplied by the little volume whose title stands at the head of this article, and which furnishes us with the account of what places were not contested, and of the actual polls at all the contests which occurred. With this guide, for want of a better, we must examine the composition of the new House of Commons.

It is not easy to define exactly the degree of influence that may amount to Nomination; but at least it will be admitted, that in such a state of excitement as existed at the late general election, and with new constituencies created in every town in the empire, the return, without contest, of the relations or connexions of the great man, who formerly nominated for the borough, may be taken as prima facie evidence that his influence has not been much impaired; so again, where the contest between the old and the new interest has been decided in favour of the former by a large and irresistible majority. There are 187 boroughs in England, (exclusive of the two universities): of these 140 were contested, and in 47 there was no oppositionthe proportion therefore of contested to uncontested places was three to one. Now, let us examine by this proportion the places

contained

contained in schedule B, which, as our readers well know, was the principal scene of all the shifts and changes which were made in the progress of the Bills. Of the 30 boroughs included in schedule B, we might have expected to have 20 contested and 10 not contested; but what was the fact? only 13 were contested and 17 uncontested; affording a pretty strong presumption that schedule B is, in spite of all the promises and assertions of ministers, still strongly tainted with Nomination; and when we see that Arundel, Ashburton, Calne, Droitwich, Midhurst, Morpeth, Thirsk, Westbury, and Woodstock, have returned, without contest, the same per sons-all reformers-that they did in the days of avowed Nomination; and that Hythe, St. Ives, and Wareham have returned, though with contests, the old Whig members; while, on the other hand, the old Tory influence has succeeded but in five or at most six places-it will be admitted that the line drawn by the Whigs, and which has given them more than a double share of what once were, and still appear to be, Nomination boroughs, was either a miraculous chance or an infamous fraud. So much for Schedule B.

But let us see by what a fortunate arrangement certain boroughs were permitted to retain both their members, and survive, unmutilated, that disastrous field. The first of these that attracted attention in the House of Commons was Malton, which, by a lucky chance, just turned the corner of all the plans. We all know that Malton was the close borough of Earl Fitzwilliam, and we all remember the zealous, but no doubt honest and disinterested, support that the present Lord Fitzwilliam gave to the Reform Bill, and the pious horror of nomination which seemed to pervade all his speeches. The Fitzwilliam family had three close boroughs-Higham Ferrars-for the annihilation of which(indeed it only returned one member)-Lord Fitzwilliam voted with Spartan generosity, while with equal generosity he supported the plan that left Malton and Peterborough two members each; but in which we were told that, with a new and reformed constituency, he could have no possible interest. Now, mark. Malton and Peterborough have each returned, without a contestnot Lord Fitzwilliam's nominees-no, to be sure! nominees are no more-but three of the self-same gentlemen who were his father's avowed nominees in the unreformed House; and the fourth, and only new member, happens to be his Lordship's son! Patriotism, like any other virtue, is sure to be eventually rewarded; and the lucky accident of having his four friends-the ex-nominees and his son-returned to the reformed parliament, must console his Lordship for the loss of the solitary seat at Higham Ferrars. But the Bill had also other consolation in store for him. Lord Dundas possessed the nomination of two members for the close borough of

S 2

Richmond.

Richmond. Now, Lord Dundas married the late Lord Fitzwilliam's sister, and Lord Dundas's daughter married her cousin, the present Lord Fitzwilliam-but this, to the credit of his Lordship and his friends the ministers, did not prevent Richmond being placed in Schedule B of the first Bill; but by another lucky chance, the new and impartial standard applied to the latter Bills relieved Richmond from this temporary jeopardy, and restored it to its full and undiminished franchise-and what has followed? Why, Richmond has returned to the reformed House the identical two gentlemen who happened to be Lord Dundas's nominees in the former parliaments. Wonderful as the good luck of these and many other Whig boroughs was, truth obliges us to say that two or three Tory boroughs were still more fortunate, for, happening to be in the same neighbourhood, and absolutely in the same circumstances, it was found impossible-without a degree of risk which no true reformer could have wished the ministers to run, or indeed without great danger to the Whig boroughs themselves -to immolate the one while they were sparing the others. Northallerton, with its one member, may therefore bless its proximity to Malton, Richmond, and Thirsk; and Chippenham must be grateful for the protection of Westbury, Midhurst, and Calne. It is better that ten guilty should escape than one innocent perish. But the compassion of ministers was put to no such extremity of trial-for they had only to say, better that one Tory should escape than that three Whigs should perish.

But there was another case which created, during the progress of the Bills, particular interest, both from its own importance, and from several accessary facts. Tavistock was in the nomination of the Russell family-a small place and a close borough. When the scythe passed over that neighbourhood, and bowed down higher heads to the earth, some wondered that Tavistock should have still stood erect. Mr. Baring, generally a shrewd and sensible man, was absurd enough to exclaim, during the first debate, 'that he wondered that when the noble mover of the Bill, Lord John Russell, had travelled down to Callington, he had not stopped at Tavistock.'-'He wondered!' Why, did he not know that the noble mover, and his brother themselves, were members for Tavistock, and that the borough was their father's? Wonder, indeed! But Mr. Baring's very simple wonder gave great offence -it conveyed a most unfounded and injurious insinuation against the noble, and not more noble than patriotic house of Russell. Balaam's ass once spoke on less provocation, and the dumb son of Croesus found utterance to defend his father. Lord Tavistock found the following words (which we copy from the parliamentary debate) to repel Mr. Baring's insinuation:

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'The Marquis of Tavistock said, that after what had fallen from Mr. Baring, he could not avoid taking the first opportunity that presented itself of saying a few words. Mr. Baring seemed to cast a reflection on his Majesty's ministers for not having included Tavistock as well as Callington amongst those boroughs which were to be disfranchised. Now, in reply, he would say, that if the Honourable Member would bring forward a motion to have Tavistock included, it should have his cordial support.

This conditional promise did not risk much; for how could Mr. Baring, the enemy of all disfranchisements, propose to disfranchise Tavistock? But if such a motion would have had the Noble Lord's cordial support, why did he not make it himself, or persuade his brother, Lord John, to do it spontaneously? But what followed is still more amusing:—

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'But,' continued his Lordship, if Mr. Baring abstain from making such a motion, greatly did he (Lord Tavistock) mistake the character of (his father) the Duke of Bedford, if that nobleman could ever influence his tenants in that place as to the manner in which they should give their votes. Mr. Baring had said that "If he (Lord Tavistock) would give him half-a-crown he would ensure the return of the two members for Tavistock." Now, if the Honourable Member would give him half-a-crown, he would return twenty half-crowns IF EVER the Duke of Bedford made the attempt.'-Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, March 3, 1831.

And his Lordship then added,

that he might also state that the town of Bedford would be ALSO left to itself, as far as respected any influence of the Duke of Bedford.'

Tolerably clear, and very explicit! Tavistock (perhaps by the effect of this very solemn assurance) preserves its two membersand who are the two members returned?-Lord Russell, the nephew of Lord John Russell, the grandson of the Duke of Bedford, the son of Lord Tavistock himself;-and Colonel Fox, the son of Lord Holland, who had, and could have, no other recommendation to that constituency than the influence of the Duke of Bedford! And as if to render this case still more astonishing, Colonel Jones has lately published a letter, in which he repudiates the friendship of Mr. Hume, and alleges as one of the chief grievances against that gentleman, that he had instigated Sir Charles Knowles to oppose the Duke of Bedford's friends at Tavistock: and Lord Tavistock himself has gone to the House of Peers; and his brother, Lord Charles James Fox Russell, has taken his place in the county of Bedford; and in the town of Bedford, in which Lord Tavistock volunteered a promise that the Duke of Bedford would also refrain from exerting any influence, two gentlemen have been returned-the one the very same nephew of Lord Grey who sat under the old system, and the other also a friend, as it is stated,

of

of the self-denying Duke. It seems impossible, after all this, to add a touch to such a picture-yet we think what follows will be the crowning wonder.

It will be recollected that places were avowedly selected for utter disfranchisement, or for half or whole representation, by the proportion of electors which they were likely to furnish. Three hundred was the minimum, which a place must have to retain one member, and the travelling commissioners were directed to carve and parcel out the several boroughs accordingly; and Mr. O'Connell, who generously undertook the defence of Tavistock, said, that the Bill threw open that borough, and created 1000 electors, when there at present were but 24.'-(Hansard's Parliamentary Debates, March 8, 1831.) Mr. O'Connell here made a slight mistake: Tavistock was a close borough, but not so close as he represented it; he probably thought it was a corporation when he assigned to it 24 electors, but it was in fact one in which freeholders voted, and we find in the Parliamentary Registers that the old constituency had sometimes amounted to 115. But, thanks to Mr. Hume and his envoyé Sir C. Knowles, we have positive proof of the number of electors in the emancipated borough:-a thousand as Mr. O'Connell promised? Oh, no! What, only five hundred ? Guess again! No doubt they at least amounted to three hundred and eighty, the number calculated by the commissioners? Not quite! Well, to be sure, they at least exceed Lord John's own minimum of three hundred? No such thing! there polled at the reformed election for Tavistock

For Lord Russell
For Colonel Fox

For Sir C. F. Knowles

*

159

119

64

So that, supposing every elector who voted for Sir Charles Knowles to have given him a plumper, the total number of electors cannot exceed the amount who voted for him and Colonel Fox, namely one hundred and eighty-three! So the Reform Bill appears to have increased the constituency of Tavistock neither by 1000, nor even by 300, but by 68; and Tavistock retains its two members, and these members are the nominees of the Duke of Bedford

In those places where there were two candidates, it is impossible (on account of plumpers and split votes) to determine, from the number of votes, the exact number of electors; but we have, all through this paper, added the votes of the lowest successful and of the highest unsuccessful candidate, and calculated that the result approximates to the real number of electors. In the few instances in which we happened to know the exact numbers, we find that this mode of calculation gives a number greater than the real one; so that if there be any error, it probably is against our argument, and in favour of the bill. Where there was but one Member to be elected, the sum of the votes given must be the total number of electors.

'The

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