date who had on this occasion been the representative of Conservative principles, to prove by another open display the strength of their party, which had just been represented as annihilated, and the fearlessness, as well as the fairness, in which they were determined to maintain their opinions. On the 11th of January, a meeting, unparalleled in Edinburgh for its numbers, its high character, talent, and property, assembled to testify its gratitude to the man, who, amidst every discouragement, had had sufficient manliness, sufficient confidence in the ultimate prospects of the cause of truth, to stand forward as a rallying point to the friends of the Constitution; with something of the same feeling with which the Romans greeted their defeated general after the battle of Cannæ, and thanked him because in that moment of general consternation and despondency he had not despaired of the state.

The Goorge's Street Assembly Room, the largest apartment in Edinburgh, though accommodating about 480 gentlemen, was found insufficient for the purpose, about a hundred more having been under the necessity of dining in the adjoining room. We quote from the Advertiser the following paragraph, which will give our readers at a distance some idea of the general character of the Meeting, and of the strength of that feeling which could associate so many distinguished individuals from every quarter, many of whom had come to Edinburgh from a distance of a hundred miles and upwards, for the very purpose of testifying their respect for Mr Blair, and their attachment to the cause of which he was the Representative.

"Friday, a grand public dinner was given in the Assembly Rooms to Mr Forbes Hunter Blair, by his friends of the Conservative party, who turned out upon the occasion upwards of five hundred in number. Sir Francis Walker Drummond of Hawthornden, Baronet, was in the Chair. On his right were placed Mr Blair, Sir George Clerk, Hon. Mr Leslie Melville, Colonel Lindsay, Sir George Leith, Sir John Hope, Mr Allan of Glen, Mr Ramsay of Barnton, Mr Blair of Blair, Mr Arbuthnot, Colonel Harvey, Mr Burn

Callender, Captain Forbes, Mr Walker Drummond, James Strange, Esq., J. Atholl M. Murray, Esq. of Macgregor, James Walker, Esq. of Dalry, James Farquharson, Esq. of Invercauld, and Sir John Forbes, vice. On the left of the chair were, Sir William Rae, Hon. James Bruce, Sir John Oswald, Hon. W. Drummond, Sir David Milne, Sir John Hall, Mr Campbell of Blythswood, Sir Robert Dundas, Dr Macknight, Mr Balfour of Fernie, Mr Bonar of Kimmerghame, Mr Trotter of Dreghorn, Mr Downie of Appin, Mr Gordon of Craig, Charles Stirling, Esq. of Kenmore, James Oliphant, Esq. of Gask, Charles Fergusson, Esq., younger of Kilkerran, and Mr Trotter of Ballendean, vice.

"Mr P. Robertson, advocate, acted as croupier. On his right were Mr Forbes of Callendar, Sir John Cathcart, Mr Mure of Caldwell, Mr Bruce of Kennet, Colonel Balfour, 82d Regiment, Mr Dundas of Arniston, Mr Pringle of Whytbank, Mr Adam Hay, Mr Scott of Harden, and Mr Donald Horne, W.S., vice. On the left, Mr Richardson of Pitfour, Sir James Riddell, Mr Johnston of Alva, Mr Ker of Blackshiels, Mr George Wauchope, Mr Ogilvie of Chesters, Sir Charles Ker, General Elliot, Major Oliver, Mr Smith Cunningham, Mr Hamilton, Roselle, Mr Alexander of Southbar, Mr Hamilton of Pinmore, Mr Smith of Methven, Mr Dundas of Dunira, Mr Muir Mackenzie, and Mr Charles Neaves, advocate, vice."

The company in general included by far the greater proportion of the Landed Gentlemen, almost all the Bankers, a very numerous proportion of the most eminent of the Bar, and the Writers to the Signet, of the Army and Navy, of the most eminent Merchants and most respectable Shopkeepers, of Edinburgh. Of the enthusiasm, the confidence in the cause of truth and constitutional principles, the lofty and generous tone which pervaded the proceedings of the evening, none can have an idea but those who were witnesses of them.

Among many things, however, connected with this assembly, which must have inspired feelings of admiration and pride in every one who loves his country, there was one

feature peculiarly honourable to the great and important party of which it was the representative-we mean the public avowal of the generous and patriotic principles by which its future conduct was to be guided, the determination cordially to support the government of the country in every measure which appeared to be conducive towards the real happiness and stability of the state; the distinct disclamation of any intention to embarrass their policy by unnecessary opposition, or factious union with their opponents; and the resolution of the Conservatives steadfastly to pursue, with purity of purpose and singleness of heart, the only object they had in view-the preservation of the country from the ruin with which its institutions, its glory, happiness, and character, are so visibly threatened.

This is no idle boast-no empty parade of principle. The Conservative party may refer to their conduct during the past, as a guarantee for the future. Had they chosen to coalesce with the Radical party throughout the country during the late elections, a course which the insults, the slanders, the unmanly intimidation, the attacks on person and property,to which they have been subjected through the active or passive approbation of Ministry, would have not unnaturally dictated to meaner minds, less solicitous to merge all individual considerations in their country's good, the seats of the Ministry would not have been worth a month's purchase. But will any one venture to point out one instance of this unholy coalition? We say fearlessly, there is not one. Where none but destructive candidates came forward, (we thank the Jew of the Times for teaching us that word,) the Conservatives gave them no support. Where a Radical was opposed by a Ministerialist, the Conservatives, as the least of two evils, gave their votes to the latter. Was this conduct-we will not call it noble, for to every real Conservative it appears only natural-was this spirit of fairness, this anxiety for the good of the country, met by a corresponding feeling on the part of the Ministry and their supporters? No! To the disgrace of the Ministerial party be it spoken, at this moment, though even they themselves perceive that

it is from the revolutionary and movement party alone that any real danger to the country is threatened,-that all the fancied evils of Toryism are as dust in the balance, compared with the sweeping ruin which impends over the country, from the new and fatal power which their policy first called into action,-they are so blinded by the memory of party prejudices,-so appalled even by the very spectre of Toryism, that they rush into the jaws of revolution to avoid it. Everywhere they have supported the Radical candidates wherever they were opposed to a Conservative, and wherever, from local interests, or other circumstances, no tool of their own could be put forward with any prospect of success.

Very different indeed were the sentiments of this distinguished assembly. No feelings of party rancour could so blind their reason or pervert their sense of duty, as to induce them for a moment to countenance the idea that they would enter into any combination with the enemies of the constitution, for the purpose of shaking from their seats even those who had been the authors of the calamities of the country. They expressed the resolution of the Conservatives, to act in Parliament as they had acted at the elections, and to give their cordial support to Ministers, "if satisfied with the victory they had obtained, they now preferred to take their stand in defence of the institutions of the country against the farther schemes of the Radicals;" and their determination neither to combine with the destructive party in the state, nor to compromise one iota of their principles by a combination with Ministers themselves.

But if the expression of this straightforward and generous resolution was distinct, not less firm and uncompromising was the avowal of their sentiments as to the policy which had been hitherto pursued by Ministers, and the visibly increasing perils which, under a course of alternate rashness and weakness, unparalleled in the history of the world, they had brought upon the country. The violations of the authority of the law, and of the dignity of the throne, which they had sanctioned―

their recognition and support of illegal and unconstitutional associations; the attacks which they had made on the honour of the Peerage, and their abandonment of the Church to its relentless enemies of all religions, or of none;-these were commented on with the warm and just indignation which they were calculated to inspire. This was peculiarly obvious in the enthusiastic reception with which Sir William Rae was received. It was a tribute, paid partly, no doubt, to the man for his unobtrusive worth, but it was still more a homage to the principle which had guided his conduct in office,-that of preserving inviolable "the majesty of the law." Well might the chairman remark, that were he called upon to give advice to the present Lord Advocate, as to the line of policy he ought to pursue, he could give him none so judicious, as that of imitating in his public conduct, in all points, the impartiality and the firmness of Sir William Rae. The company felt the truth of the observation; they contrasted the temperate yet determined assertion of the authority of the Crown, and of the supremacy of the laws during the official career of the late Lord Advocate, with the license given to seditious speeches and seditious acts during the present; the protection so impartially afforded to persons and property under the one, with the insults and personal outrages to which all who presume to differ from the majority, are tamely and passively allowed to be subjected under the other; and they felt that the gift of a light and sparkling eloquence, and the ingenuity of the critic or the advocate, were but a poor compensation for the absence of the more homely but more solid qualities of his prede

cessor.

It is impossible for us to touch on all the numerous topics adverted to by the speakers.

The Chairman, Sir Francis Walker Drummond, after the usual loyal toasts, proposed, in a speech distinguished alike by good taste and admirable feeling, the health of their distinguished guest, on whose high character, ability, and independence, he pronounced a eulogium, the jus tice of which was acknowledged by the prolonged cheers of the assembled multitude.

VOL. XXXIII. NO. CCIV.

Mr Blair, whose rising to acknowledge the compliment renewed these enthusiastic tokens of approbation, stated, with a modest self-reliance, the grounds on which he had solicited the honour of being the representative of Edinburgh. "I will not, I trust, be accused of comparing myself with the brilliancy of talent, or literary attainment, which one of my late opponents possesses, or with the Parliamentary experience of the other; but while I disclaim all competition with these gentlemen in these qualities, I hope I shall not be arrogating too much to myself if I say, that, in one thing, I shall hold myself their superior-I mean in perfect independence-(loud cheers)

being unfettered by any feeling of past obligation, or any view of future advantage, in conscientiously discharging my duty to my country. For the present, I trust, we are far from being conquered. We can discover who are the truest friends of the people; those who would mislead them by wild theories of government-theories inconsistent with human nature-or those who would guide them by judgment, study, and sound observation. I have been stigmatised by my opponents as the Champion of Anti-Reform. If by that term is meant an Anti-Revolu tionist, an opposer of what threatens to bear down the bulwarks of the constitution, and to sweep before it every thing great, good, and glorious in the land, and which has distinguished this nation above every other, and raised her to a pitch of prosperity almost unexampled; if such be the import of the title, I glory in it, and conceive it one far nobler than Kings can bestow.(Cheers.) But if by that title is meant that I am the opposer of any improvement in our constitution, if I am charged with any want of kindness or feeling of benevolence towards all classes of my fellow-countrymen, I repel the epithet with indignation and contempt."

Mr P. Robertson's able address in proposing "The Legitimate Influence of Property and Intelligence in the Choice of a Representative," was directed to an analysis of the working of the Bill, in reference to the alleged defects which it professed to cure. He shewed that, under the

Reform Bill, twenty-nine of the members returned for Scotland are the same as those returned under the abused old system, "when there was no sympathy and little connexion between the representatives and the people;" that under the Bill, which was intended to cure the fatal propensity on the part of Scotch members to swell the Ministerial ranks, more members in the interest of Ministers had been returned than before; that, instead of returning members more closely connected with the great landed or commercial interests of the country, many of the representatives returned had not a rood of land in any county whatever, while the care of the mercantile districts and burghs was generally committed to the tender mercies of lawyers. With scarcely a single exception, the members returned, instead of being likely to become" Parliamentary heroes"a strange want, it seems, which was felt under the old system-were persons whose very pretensions to the title were calculated to excite inextinguishable laughter. He contrasted the exclusion of Sir George Murray with the admission of Mr Kinloch, "a restored patriot," whom the lenity of the government he now vilifies restored to that country from which he had been expelled for sedition; the rejection of Sir George Clerk, to make way for that "young aspirant for fame," Sir John Dalrymple; and concluded with a spirit-stirring appeal to the principles by which the Conservative party should be guided, and the extent of that moral force by which it was and would continue to be supported.

we would peculiarly wish to direct the attention of our readers, was the masterly address of Mr Duncan M'Neill, in proposing as a toast "The permanency of the Established Church;"-a speech conspicuous for every one of the highest qualities of eloquence, and which we feel it would be equal injustice to the speaker and to our readers to abridge.

"Till lately I did not believe that I should see the day when, at a meeting of such persons as are here assembled, there should exist in any breast a feeling of serious anxiety for the permanency of the Established Church. I had considered it as a political axiom, that every system of good and stable government should be connected with an established system of pure religion, and that the nation should enable its poorest subjects to partake, as freely as its most exalted nobles, of that inestimable fountain which yields to both of them equal consolation, and reminds both of them of their common nature.— (Cheers.)-But those things which we were accustomed to regard as political axioms, have, in the wisdom of modern politics, been rejected as political errors, and their very antiquity has been held a sufficient reason for rejecting them.—(Applause.) -A few short years ago the permanency of the British Constitution, unimpaired, was a less doubtful prediction than is now the permanency of the Established Church; yet within these few years what invasions have been made on the British Constitution!-(Cheers.)-It has withstood the assault; though shattered, it still exists, by the blessing of Providence, rather than through the wisdom of our rulers. (Continued cheering.) But its assailants have not yet relinquished their purpose, and strong indications have been given that among the points marked out for early attack is the Established Church. That Church is closely identified with the Monarchy, and if the Monarchy means to defend itself, it must defend the Church; (cheers ;) but if the Monarchy, aided by the friends of the Church, shall not be strong enough, or wise enough, to defend the Church, the enemies of the Constitution will press their advantage with the consciousness of power, and the energy which suc

The statesman-like address of Sir George Clerk in proposing "The Health of the Conservative Citizens of Edinburgh,"-which was acknowledged by Mr Trotter of Ballendean, with his usual brevity and good taste, was listened to with deep attention. He reviewed the conduct of the Conservative party in Parliament, in the discussions on the Reform Bill, and pointed out, with singular clearness and force, the irresistible objections to it, which had justified their opposition; and the impossibility of resisting, upon similar grounds, a demand for a farther, an indefinite extension of popular suffrage. But the speech to which

cess inspires, and the Monarchy itself must fall a prey to their efforts.(Cheers.)-I cannot here enumerate all the indications of hostility to the Established Church which have lately manifested themselves, but I may mention some of them. In the recent elections, we have seen the avowed rivals and secret enemies of the Church busy at work, almost without exception on one side, and that side not the Conservative. That unity of action could not be the result of chance. It must have had its origin in purpose and design-and when we see it directed towards the support of men who have now in their hands a power obtained by unsettling all establish ed opinions, and exciting a feverish anxiety for change, the friends of the Established Church might, on that ground alone, be excused for enter taining some anxiety as to its fate (Much cheering.)-But the thing has, in a certain degree, been spoken out. It has been publicly stated, and I have not seen it contradicted, that pledges have been demanded on the subject of Church property, and Church establishments, cheers,)—and that, in one populous town which has lately acquired the privilege of returning a Member to Parliament, the cry of Burn the Bible,' was one of the cries of the unenfranchised supporters of the popular and successful candidate.-(Continued cheers.) We all know that in the neighbouring kingdom public odium has been excited and recklessly directed against the venerable Bench of Bishops, to the endangerment of the personal safety of some of them, and that a sweeping reform in the Church of England has been openly talked of by the avowed adherents of Government.-(Loud cheers.)-I do not pretend to a perfect knowledge of the economy of the Church of England, but this I know, that it can boast of names the most distinguished for talent, for learning, for piety, for every thing that can give grace and character to any establishment;-(Cheers) -and I feel confident that the culture cannot be bad which produces such fruits. (Continued cheering.) -Standing here an humble member of a poorer-a less splendid establishment, I regard the Church of England, not as a rival of whom we should be jealous, but as a sister of the same family, whose exaltation

reflects lustre on us, and by whose degradation we also should be humbled. If the Church of England falls, rest assured our poorer, and, politically speaking, weaker Church, cannot keep its ground.-(Cheers.)—I regard the attacks which have been made on the Bishops as a prelude to an attempt to separate the Church from the State; and although it is possible that the revenues of the Church might be better apportioned among its members, yet I shudder at the idea of a general reform of the Church of England, concocted and commenced in the present political temperament of the country, and by those rash heads and rash hands which have caused that temperament, and have already evinced too great a disposition to pander to the false appetite of an intoxicated and insatiable mob. — (Continued cheering.)-I confess, however, that what appears to me to be by far the most ominous symptom of the times, is the success, the fatal success, which has attended the efforts that have for some time been systematically made to unsettle the previously fixed opinions of men, to alienate their affections from the established order of things-to destroy their attachment to all existing institutions, and to lead them to believe that whatever does not partake of the new system is a remnant of corruption and impurity, and that whoever does not join in the hue and cry for change is an enemy to the interests of the people, and should be dealt with as such.-(Much cheering.)-So successfully has this system been pursued that I can scarcely call to mind one circumstance or one name of which England should be proud, that has not been so reviled and abused, as to make every Briton of right feeling blush for his countrymen.(Cheers.)-The British Constitution itself, admired by philosophers, lauded by historians, envied by the world, is treated as a rotten wreck fit only to be hewn down for fagots.-(Continued cheering.)-Statesmen and princes whose names are interwoven with the brightest passages in British story, are called to recollection, not to do honour to their virtuous deeds, but to cover their ashes with cold and malignant calumny, and to associate with their memories every thing that falsehood can make odious. (Cheers.)