tions to their own
constituents. This young politician, who depended on office for his
bread, and on a seat in the House of Commons for office, adopted from
the first an attitude of high and almost peremptory independence which
would have sat well on a Prime Minister in his grand climacteric. The
following letter, (some passages of which have been here omitted, and
others slightly condensed,) is strongly marked in every line with the
personal qualities of the writer.

London: August 3, 1832.

"My dear Sir,--I am truly happy to find that the opinion of my friends
at Leeds on the subject of canvassing agrees with that which I have long
entertained. The practice of begging for votes is, as it seems to me,
absurd, pernicious, and altogether at variance with the true principles
of representative government. The suffrage of an elector ought not to
be asked, or to be given as a personal favour. It is as much for the
interest of constituents to choose well, as it can be for the interest
of a candidate to be chosen. To request an honest man to vote according
to his conscience is superfluous. To request him to vote against his
conscience is an insult. The practice of canvassing is quite reasonable
under a system in which men are sent to Parliament to serve themselves.
It is the height of absurdity under a system under which men are sent to
Parliament to serve the public. While we had only a mock representation,
it was natural enough that this practice should be carried to a great
extent. I trust it will soon perish with the abuses from which it
sprung. I trust that the great and intelligent body of people who have
obtained the elective franchise will see that seats in the House of
Commons ought not to be given, like rooms in an almshouse, to urgency
of solicitation; and that a man who surrenders his vote to caresses and
supplications forgets his duty as much as if he sold it for a bank-note.
I hope to see the day when an Englishman will think it as great an
affront to be courted and fawned upon in his capacity of elector as in
his capacity of juryman. He would be shocked at the thought of finding
an unjust verdict because the plaintiff or the defendant had been very
civil and pressing; and, if he would reflect, he would, I think, be
equally shocked at the thought of voting for a candidate for whose
public character he felt no esteem, merely because that candidate had
called upon him, and begged very hard, and had shaken his hand