TAIT'S EDINBURGH MAGAZINE. JUNE, 1834. TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS. We have this month the pleasure of announcing to our readers the important accession of Johnstone's Magazine to this periodical. To us the junction brings a valuable addition of talent and literary auxiliaries, and such an increase of numbers as will at once place Tait's Magazine, in point of circulation, far above all the other monthly literary periodicals sold in Scotland, taking their aggregate together. The advantages which the subscribers to Johnstone's Magazine may anticipate from the junction, have already been explained in the May number of that work; where good and substantial reasons for coalition were detailed. It was there stated that "The leading object is to combine, in one Magazine, the best features of both, which, by saving labour and expense to the proprietors of both, may enable them to produce a work unrivalled in cheapness and excellence, in which the political reader shall miss nothing of the ability, boldness, and decision, with which he has been accustomed to see public questions discussed in the periodical which now takes the lead; nor any class lack whatever original literary talent, and varied information and entertainment may have distinguished both works. "In announcing this coalition, the point chiefly requiring notice is the increase of price to the subscribers of Johnstone's Magazine, which, from the 1st of June, (when, the works being identified, it merges in Tait's Magazine, and, under that general name,) will sell at a shilling. Even here, those of our subscribers who are willing to pay the additional charge, will have an ample equivalent, in a better quality of paper, a larger quantity of letter-press, and general superiority of appearance,-laying altogether aside the primary consideration of gaining those eminent writers, whose genius and literary accomplishment have gained for Tait's Magazine the high reputation it enjoys, and whose aid Johnstone's Magazine, at its low price, and in its separate existence, could not have commanded. To such readers of Johnstone's Magazine as may choose to trace and recognise its identity after it is conjoined with Tait, the work will come possessed of all its original claims, enhanced by those it must derive from participating in the contributions of some of the first writers of the day, which have hitherto appeared in Tait exclusively. "It may be a very natural idea that if Johnstone's Magazine had succeeded to a considerable extent, there could have been no use in combining the works, similar though they be in spirit and character; but it is nevertheless a mistaken one. Both works have succeeded to a remarkable extent, though their success has hitherto lain in different countries:-Tait more in England; Johnstone chiefly in Scotland, though making a steady onward progress in England. This was another strong reason for junction. In Scotland the success of Johnstone has been unprecedented, and far beyond anything that could have been anticipated for a monthly work, not of the lightest character, and adapted either to persons of cultivated mind, or to readers of healthy and vigorous appetite. It still holds its place in Scotland, while, in the new form, [before the junction,] Tait's circulation is already equal, even in Scotland, to three times that of the Edin. burgh Review or Blackwood; promising a fair and fruitful field to the conjoined Magazines at home; and, in England, an immediate extension of the circulation of Johnstone under its new character." To the above explanation of our new ally and able auxiliary, we have little to add, save the expression of our confident expectation, that the utility of a junction, which adds much and takes nothing away, must soon be apparent, in the production of a work, adapted, by its contents and execution, to the most cultivated class of general readers; and from the unrivalled cheapness resulting from a large circulation, accessible to those of the most moderate pecuniary means, THE SCOTTISH ELECTIONS. THE precarious condition of the Whig Government has given the elections in this country a very unusual degree of importance. That which has terminated in the county of Perth, was distinctly recognised by both parties as a fair trial of strength, and each put every possible means of success in requisition. The discomfiture of the Whigs has been complete. The Tories attribute the victory they have gained to causes which may have had some influence, but which were not equal to the production of so sudden and total a change of sentiment among the electors, as was apparent by the result of the contest. The boasted re-action in Perthshire, and in the country at large, is against the Whigs; but it by no means follows that it is in favour of the Tories. This is a contingent effect. The strength of Sir George Murray lay in the weakness of the enemy; and having perceived this he was adroit enough to take advantage of their manifold blunders. A choice of evils was presented to the liberal electors; and many of them thought that in voting for Sir George Murray, they chose the least. It was their experience of Whig non-performance, placed against their hope in Tory liberal professsion and promise. The Tory candidate came forward with declarations of remarkable liberality; and his party possess the immense advantage over their opponents, of not having been recently convicted of gross insincerity. The sentiments of a great number of the reformers in Perthshire, we can gather from the tone of the liberal press in parts of Scotland removed from the influence and contagion of party feeling during the heat of an election. The liberal papers are actually exulting in the defeat of the Whigs, though they differ with the Tories on the causes to which the victory should be attributed. Unless many true reformers had voted for Sir George Murray, the poll books could not, in so short a time, have exhibited the mortifying contrast with Lord Ormelie's majority,—a majority of above 500 for the Whig candidate of 1832, changed into one of 197 for the Tory representative of 1834. The true state of the case is, that many of the reformers conceived it unnecessary to differ with their neighbours, and oppose their landlords, for so trivial a matter as the choice before them. Personal considerations recommended the Tory candidate; while many liberal men were alienated by the barefaced manner in which the Whig nominee was pushed forward, and disgusted by the hasty bestowal of place, meant to catch votes upon the old belief that a placeman endowed with any one good gift, will always possess especial attraction for a Scottish constituency. In former periods, with a handful of needy freeholders, their policy would have been completely efficacious. Sir George Murray discovers more skill in discerning the signs of the times, and adapting himself to that change of circumstances, which nei ther Whig nor Tory can long control. Every reformer saw that the struggle was not one of principle, but of mere party; and the man who called public opinion to his aid, carried the day. If Sir George Murray shall hold fast by the declaration of principles he made on the hustings, he will bear out every reformer who gave him a vote in preference to the Whig nominee. After what they have seen of Whig performance, the electors are fully justified in making trial of Tory promise. By that declaration, if acted upon, Sir George Murray must infallibly forfeit the support of many of his Tory friends; but he will rally a strength around him, from the independent constituency of Perthshire, which will more than compensate that loss. The Radicals of Perthshire who voted at all, need not be ashamed of voting for the Tory candidate, who, on the question of Church Patronage, the claims of the Dissenters, and in asserting the importance and dignity of what is called the lower branch of the Legislature, went farther than the Whig durst venture. The abolition of Church Patronage is virtually conceded by the declaration of Sir George Murray, if there is any meaning in words; and Lord Brougham himself, the life-long professing friend of the Dissenters, has never gone farther in advocating their claims. We wish to put part of this remarkable Tory declaration on record. Sir George Murray knows the new world he has entered upon too well to imagine that words will long pass for deeds. Our extract is taken from the Perthshire Advertiser, the Ministerial organ, consequently the strenuous advocate of Mr. Graham, and not likely to represent too strongly the liberal tendency of the Tory Speaker. After some general professions of attachment to the latest improvements of the Constitution, by which is meant the Reform Bill, we presume, Sir George said,— All subsequent improvements, he conceived, ought to receive as much support as any part of the Constitution, however ancient. They were entitled to receive the support of every individual, whether in a public or private capacity, as much as those great principles established in 1688. The gallant officer then went on to speak of religious freedom. He claimed for every sect and persuasion, the full enjoyment of those opinions they might prefer in regard to religion; and of those forms of worship which might appear to them best fitted for carrying on their devotional exercises. He claimed, also, that there should be no exclusion whatever from official situations on account of religious opinions. With reference to the question at present under discussion in Parliament-the admission of Dissenters into the English Universities-he held that free admission ought to be given to all sects, as well as the members of the Established Church. In his declaration of principles, Sir George Murray adverted to the question which is at present so violently agitating Scotland, the separation of Church and State, and the abolition of all Establishments. His opinions, he said, might be inferred from his conduct in relation to Canada, when he held the office of Colonial Se cretary. In other words, that the religion established should be that of the majority. Is it not the fair inference from these words, that if any religion is countenanced by the State, in Ireland, for instance, it should be the Roman Catholic faith? Away, at least, goes the galling and oppressive establishment of a small minority, if the principles of Sir George Murray are acted upon. The next point to which he alluded, was Church Patronage. He explained the great principle of the plan which Government ought to adopt, to be-that the voice of the people ought to be heard in the nomination of a minister to a parish-that no minister ought to be thrust on a parish if not acceptable to a majority of the people. The hon. Baronet then proceeded to state his opinion on the Corn Laws. He advocated a fair and equal protection to every branch of home industry, whether commercial, agricultural, or manufacturing. There ought to be no exclusion; no priority of claim. He might be asked what line of conduct would he pursue in Parliament, should it please that constituency to send him as their representative. He had no hesitation in saying that he should be a perfectly independent representative. He disclaimed the possession of those strong party feelings which had that day been ascribed to him. He should not seek to put down one party for the purpose of making room for another; but should pursue an entirely independent line of conduct-neither pledged to support a party, nor oppose the Government. The hon. gentleman who had put Mr. Graham in nomination, had talked of the Earl of Ormelie being raised to a higher branch of the legislature. It might, perhaps, be the highest in rank; but it was not the highest in his estimation. (Cheers and hisses.) He was willing to advocate the support of that branch of the constitution, but he would never admit that was higher in the scale of importance than the representation of the people. Should his honourable friend (Mr. Graham) rise one day to be member of what was thus called the higher branch of Parliament, he had no doubt he would fill it with dignity and ability; but there was no dignity to be compared with that of representing the people. There might be dignity enough in representing one's self, but it was not to be compared with that of representing many thousands of a constituency. This is a very mitigated form of Toryism. Let the reforming electors of Perthshire hold their representative to his text, and they shall not need to regret having preferred him to the candidate, powerful when recommended by the Whigs, but imagined wholly irresistible when endowed with place, preferred him when no other choice was in their power. Had the exercise of the franchise been protected, a third candidate would have stood forward; for then opposition to the bannered lairds, and banded ministerialists, would not have made the attempt to gain suffrages utterly hopeless to men whose only claims are ability and integrity. Since the termination of the election, meetings have been held in different parts of the country, in which the necessity of ballot to the free and independent exercise of the franchise, is distinctly asserted. Something amounting to such an admission appears in the letter of the disappointed candidate to the electors who voted for him; but there it is employed to give a colouring to a palpable and mortifying failure. Mr. Graham has lost the county, which Lord Ormelie carried by an immense majority, because the Whigs have since lost the confidence of the people; and the blame must be laid, not on them, but on the absence of the ballot! and Sir George Murray has gained the representation of this important county, by a much smaller majority; because, between Whig and Tory, the electors had but a choice of evils, and because, whatever his past opinions or party may have been, his declarations now are of far more liberal tendency than those of his opponent. We must farther notice the manly and sensible manner in which, at the close of the election, the Tory representative spoke of the mummeries of party-badges and colours, and reprobated the semi-barbarous child's play of chairing the members, recently introduced into Scotland. These are trifles but they show how the wind sets. THE pending election in the city of Edinburgh attracts more interest among the Scottish reformers than did that of the county of Perth ; as Mr. Aytoun is again in the field, and the sincerity of the Edinburgh Radicals, and such of the Dissenters and Voluntary Churchmen as are electors, is about to be fairly tested in open day. Mr. Aytoun comes forward on independent grounds, but pledged to the immediate abolition of the Corn Laws, to the Ballot, the restoration of Triennial Parliaments, and other popular measures of reform. It is universally allowed that he is a man of high character, good talents, excellent habits of business, and that he possesses a thorough knowledge of local affairs. Mr. Skene has "an affection for him,"-the Scotsman has no fault to him whatever, save youth.* But graced with all these gifts, he lacks Whig favour,-and "is he then to be compared with the Attorney-General ?" The Whigs have been in affliction in Edinburgh, as well as the Tories. In the first place neither Mr. Cockburn, Sir James Gibson Graig, nor Sir Thomas Dick Lauder would come forward and stand, like true men. It is becoming no joke, in these days, to be a Member of Parliament. The alacrity displayed by the small Whig coterie, to receive whomever the Treasury might graciously please to forward by the London mail, properly doqueted, or having the password and countersign, was truly commendable. First, Sir John Cam Hobhouse was to be the happy man; and, for a few days, an angel from heaven was not to be compared with this, the first Sir John, in every requisite necessary to accomplish the best of all conceivable representatives for our city. He had the wisdom and spirit to decline the nomination. This was a damper; but all was suddenly rectified by this important errata, "for Sir John Cam Hobhouse" read "Sir John Campbell, Attorney-General ;" and after the words "talent, experience, eloquence," insert" and a native of Caledonia-born and bred in Scotland !" This made all square again, though the Whigs, while Sir J. Cam Hobhouse was believed to be the Ministerial favourite, had refused to hear of We should take Mr. Aytoun to be not very many years older than the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Stanley. At what age do the Whigs conceive a man ripe for legislation; or does that period never arrive till he learn to say aye or no in the proper places. the Attorney-General. But these are trivial considerations. Such things have ever been, and for some time longer will be; and without entering farther into the respective merits of the Ministerial nominee, and the independent, or the Tory candidate, we would fix attention upon one point, the claims of any candidate whatever to the suffrages of those of the electors of Edinburgh who advocate the abolition of Church Patronage, and of those who embrace the voluntary principle in religion, after such candidate has, like Sir John Campbell, openly and explicitly avowed his approbation of the Union between Church and State. Among the Edinburgh electors there are many Dissenters, and not a few Voluntary Churchmen. To persons conscientiously holding these opinions, it be comes a matter of deep concernment to ascertain the views of the representative they send to Parliament. The other questions, political, or financial, are of minor importance in their estimation, when compared with "The Question of Questions," the great principle of Church Reform, and Christian Emancipation. To such electors the straightforward course of Sir John Campbell saves a world of trouble, and tears away every flimsy disguise. He frankly avows himself, like all the other members of the Government for which he acts, the champion of Establishments. He is the fettered official of that Government which has every day been losing ground with the great body of Dissenters, from its hollowness and shuffling on every question of Church Reform with which it has yet dealt, and from its tenacious, and strenuous support of the worst abuses of the ecclesiastical system. The conduct of the Government with which Sir John Campbell is connected, and which has sent him down to try the utmost limits of the servility of the Whigs of Edinburgh, has marvellously advanced the cause it sought to retard. For that it is however entitled to scanty thanks.* The Dissenters, strong in their union, courageous The resolute conduct of the Deputation sent from Glasgow, has stripped off the Whig veil, and shown the Dissenters the exact ground they occupy. Earl Grey was lately waited upon by Dr. Heugh, the Reverend Andrew Marshall, and Mr. James Johnston, the president of the meeting at which the memorial they presented was adopted, along with the Glasgow petition, for dissevering Church and State, signed by 50,000 persons. When the Memorial was read, Earl Grey at once avowed his sentiments. "Now that the Dissenters took this open ground against the principle of all Church establishments, he would conceal nothing from them, but at once avow that he was conscientiously attached to the Established Church; and that believing its existence to be intimately connected with the well-being of the State, he would do all in his power to uphold it." The Dissenters are obliged to the Premier for this frank avowal. But what do false or trimming Church Reformers say to it? How much more waiting, and moderation, and patience, are to be exercised towards men who have declared as strongly against any thing approaching to an effectual Church Reform as ever did the Duke of Wellington against constitutional reform? No Dissenter, no pretended advocate for the disjunction of the unholy union of Church and State, need longer affect ignorance of the sentiments of the Government, and of every individual member of the Government. The supporters of Sir John In from a rapidity of success which astonishes themselves, already see that the day of their deliverance draweth nigh. The Church of the State is in danger; but in its peril is found the safety of the Church of God. As the dismasted rotten hulk sinks, the true Ark rises above the waters. And at this crisis, so memorable in the history of the true and universal Church, comes forward a candidate in Edinburgh, and claims the suffrages of the Dissenting electors, with the avowal on his lips, that he will oppose the object which lies nearest their hearts. this city, which has been for some time in a state of fermentation for Church Reform,-where meetings have been held, and speeches made,---and from whence petitions and deputations have so recently been sent forth to promote Church Reform, is an avowed supporter of Establishments to be elected by the aid of the Dissenters ? What qualities, with all his merits, does Sir John Campbell possess, or what qualities can any representative possess, which, at this juncture, may counterbalance his opposition in Parliament to the Voluntary principle in religion? Are the Reformers and Dissenters of Edinburgh about to stultify themselves, and shame their good and prosperous cause, by supporting a candidate, who not only refuses to go along with them in important secular questions, but also in that paramount object, the emancipation of Christianity, on which so many of them have expressed the strongest opinions, and to effect which they have bound themselves. We shall not expatiate on the claims and merits of Mr. Aytoun. The conspicuous part which he acted at all the public meetings in Edinburgh, during the struggle for the Reform Bill,-his able and patriotic conduct as chairman of the Edinburgh Political Union, at a time when Whig Ministers thanked unions for their exertions, and, in fact, owed their seats to these powerful bodies,—his ready co-operation with the Whigs at all their meetings for liberal objects, as long as the Edinburgh Whigs took part in public meetings at all, cannot be forgotten. And since his election, by the First District of our city, as a member of the Reformed Town Council, Mr. Aytoun's conduct as a councillor, has been such as to raise him to a high place in the esteem and regard of his fellowcitizens. He has shown talents for public business, both in committee, and at the Council Board, of a superior order. Indebate, Mr. Aytoun, after one year's familiarity with Parliamentary business, will not have many superiors in the House. His integrity, and sturdy independence, are universally admitted. Even those who, to please the Whigs, are preparing to desert their principles on this important occasion, and seem desirous of sneering away Mr. Aytoun's pretensions as a. man of talent and acquirements, by way of a cover for their own shabby conduct,-even these persons always qualify their objections to Mr. Aytoun, Campbell see their way. They endeavour to return a man to Parliament, who, like Earl Grey, will do all in his power to uphold the alliance between Church and State, and who tells them so. by an admission of his indubitable political honesty. As to his principles we need say nothing. His declaration is before the world. But we would earnestly commend to the attention of all conscientious advocates of religious freedom, in Edinburgh, the following extract of a letter from the Member for Brighton, Mr. Faithfull: "If I had access to the Dissenters of Edinburgh, and could suppose that the appeal of so humble an individual would have any effect, I would implore them, in the name of Christianity, to evince their attachment to truth and justice, by supporting a man who is an advocate for the dissolution of that anti-christian, pernicious, and destructive union which has, unfortunately, so long existed between Church and State. But why do I talk of appealing to Dissenters ? Is there a Christian in Edinburgh who is not conscious that a Church, interwoven with the State, is an abomination to God, and injurious to man? Sure am I, that every real friend of civil and religious liberty, must be anxious to see the pompous and overgrown Establishment of this country put down. So far as the Dissenters are concerned, they may rely upon it, that they will never get their grievances redressed, unless they exert themselves to the utmost for the purpose of sending to Parliament those who will advocate the voluntary principle." Mr. Faithfull then states how important it would be to the Voluntary cause that the Member for Edinburgh voted with him for the emancipation of Christianity. The eyes of Dissenters everywhere are now fixed upon the Dissenters of Edinburgh. And it is not enough that they give their personal votes. Their exertions, their persuasions, every honest effort they can employ, is at present required, to send a representative to Parliament, who will advocate the Voluntary principle. The Tory candidate, Mr. Learmonth is hardly worthy of notice, though the best man the party could lay their hands upon. It is understood that several gentlemen who were applied to by the Tory Clique, declined a contest in which there was little honour to be gained, and where discomfiture was probably to be encountered after a world of harassment and odium. The only chance for the man of the Tories is division among the reformers. His political friends are believed to be ashamed of Mr. Learmonth: but they must endeavour to carry him through,-" a poor thing, but mine own." The vacancy for Leith, created by Mr. Murray being appointed Lord Advocate, occasions no great interest or anxiety. If not a very active member of Parliament, Mr. Murray has been an independent one. He has given some good votes, and avoided several obnoxious ones. He therefore stands well with his former constituents. The opposition of the Tory candidate, Mr. Aitchison, who contested Leith with him formerly, may give some trouble, but creates no alarm to the friends of the new Lord Advocate. Ministers are safe there: the Tories hopeless. EPAMINONDAS. O CHARIOTEER of heaven's eternal scheme, With the fair sculpture's Parian flowers so cold? That ever loves to brood and broadly bask With a surpassing beam-his epitaph! Holds his last grains of dust! they fall and fade, By inspiration-in Drymodes' vale, Whose bosom green heaved to the chorded power, Thus to his dyre Olympiodorus sung. A CONSULTATION. " I TRUST I have the honour of seeing your Ladyship well this morning, and that Lord Casserole has passed a tolerable night?" minces the fashionable apothecary, spruce Mr. Camomile, gliding with well-practised and noiseless steps over the muffled carpet of Lady Casserole's drawing-room in Carlton Terrace; casting a significant glance towards the golden pendule on the chimney-piece, to mark that consciousness of being within five-eighths of a second of the minute of his appointment, which he could not presume to express in words. "A tolerable night?" cries Lady Casserole, with indignation. "Brown assures me that he did not sleep a wink!-Since that last prescription of Sir Jacob's, he has in fact been going on progressively from bad to worse,-rest less, nervous, without appetite, and without ease." Camomile knit his brows into sympathy, and shook his head, as if it had contained one of his own draughts. "In short, unless Sir Jacob Gemini, and Sir Richard Colchicum, can hit upon something new for him this morning, I must begin to think of calling in farther advice." "Your Ladyship doubtless cannot be too assiduous," insinuates the gentle Camomile, well aware that every change of men necessitating a change of measures, is for the advantage of his annual account-that a sudden transition from Belladonna and leeches, to quinine and pitch plasters, will be at least a couple of guineas in favour of his bill. |