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CHARACTER OF THE COMPANY.

Shepherd. But tell me -though you wasna there was it a Failure or a Succeed?

North. Much folly and falsehood, I am sorry to say, all parties are guilty of, in describing Political Meetings got up by their adversaries; and so far from thinking that we Conservatives are less liable to the charge than the Destructives, be they Whigs or Radicals, I shall not be surprised to see myself taken to task, by the low-flying Tories, for declaring that, in my opinion, the Edinburgh Dinner to Lord Grey was, on the whole, honourable to him and creditable to our Reformers.

North. With ten points of scornful admiration, if you please —for I do not believe that a greater mass of ignorance, prejudice, bigotry, stupidity, and vulgarity were ever collected together under one roof.

Shepherd. Dinna ye?

Tickler (roused). Dishonesty and malignity.

North. Two-thirds of the two thousand five hundred males there assembled were of the lowest intellectual grade, and in the meanness of their moral nature, into which not one ennobling sentiment had ever been inspired by education or experience, incapable of comprehending any one of the great principles on which is founded the stability of a Constitution in Church or State.

Shepherd. Ye're speakin o' the Radicals.

North. No. Of the blind leading the blind-their name is Legion, for they are many-and not a few Radicals are among them-but far the greater number are Whigs.

Tickler. In Edinburgh there are ten Whigs for one Radical in good society—

Shepherd. What ca' ye gude society?

fruitless, at least to the majority of his auditors: on went the work of demolition; and in fact by the time the chair was taken, and the dinner regularly commenced, the eating was really over. The appearance of the room, when the whole company had taken their places, was very imposing. On the platform, besides the great guest of the festival, were Lord Brougham, Lord Rosebery, the Earl of Errol, Lord Lynedoch, Lord Belhaven, Lord Durham, Sir J. C. Hobhouse, Professor Arago, the Solicitor-General, Sir J. Abercromby, the Marquess of Breadalbane, Lord Stair, &c. &c. Lord Rosebery took the chair in the absence of the Duke of Hamilton, who had excused himself from attending. The Lord Advocate (Jeffrey) was croupier, supported by Lord Dinorben and the Attorney-General."

A FEW EXCEPTIONS.

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North. I presume the society of honest men. Tickler. Right. But, as regards our argument, James, I mean by good society, the society of honest men of the middle ranks for below that I fear most men at present suppose that they are Radicals—and I presume there were not many of that class at the dinner to Lord Grey.

Shepherd. They had mair sense than to get up a guinea for a cauld denner and a bottle o' corked port.

North. Eight hundred men—I calculate on data not to be denied by any one acquainted with Scotland-were present at that dinner, worthy to welcome to Scotland, and to Edinburgh, any Statesman.

Tickler. I agree with you, North. You and I do not lay any great stress on what is called the nobility and gentry present on that occasion-for they, though respectable, were sparse; but without excluding such sprinklings-and acknowledging with pleasure the high character of the Noble Chairman-we declare that the strength of the assemblage lay in those citizens who had either raised themselves from a humble condition to what is rightly called a high—or added lustre to the condition in which they happened to have been born-by their own moral and intellectual worth-or by the endowment of genius.

Shepherd. Genius?

North. Yes, genius. Henry Cockburn, now a Judge—which I am glad of-did not, to be sure, write the Queen's Wakenor is Sir Thomas Dick Lauder1 the Editor of Blackwood's Magazine- -nor did Andrew Skene write Adam Blair-nor Andrew Rutherfurd the Lights and Shadows of Scottish Lifenor Robert Jamieson the Trials of Margaret Lyndsay-but have they not done far more difficult things-if not as good, or better? And think ye that the same powers that have raised them (the Painter and Poet of the great Morayshire Floods, out of politics, is one of ourselves, James, and though we need not veil our bonnets to him, we wear them in his presence but as equals) to the highest eminence in law, might not, if directed into that pleasanter channel, have won them as high a place in literature?

1 Sir T. Dick Lauder, the author of An Account of the great Morayshire Floods. The other gentlemen here mentioned were eminent Whig members of the Scotch Bar.

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LORD GREY'S ADMIRERS.

Shepherd. No in poetry, sir, no in po

Tickler. Poo upon poetry! Fire away, Kit.

North. The educated classes in Scotland-and I allow a wide latitude to the term educated-were much divided on the question of reform. All true Conservatives abhorred the bill -many-nay, all moderate Whigs-feared it in much-and the wildest disliked some of its most improvident provisions : it was welcomed in its reckless radicalism but by the Destructives.

Shepherd. Truth uttered by Wisdom.

Tickler. Therefore not even the eight hundred could have been unanimous in their approbation of the statesmanship of Lord Grey.

North. No, indeed. Not even had they been all the most violent of Whigs; but of the six hundred Whigs worthy the name for I skim away the scum-a half at least had all their lives as you well know, Tickler-deprecated such reform-a quarter of them at least had long abjured its principles-while the remaining fourth-with the exception of such men as Mr Greenshiels, and a few other grave enthusiasts-men of talent and virtue-were either worthy old foggies, who took a pride in seeing doctrines triumphant in their age, which they had vainly battled for in a pedantic war of words in their youth; or worthy young foggies, whom-as I do not wish to be personal-I shall not name at a Noctes-following in their train, and fondly imagining themselves all the while to be leaders; or unworthy young foggies-yet still of reputable character— Tickler. Yawp for the loaves and fishes.

Shepherd. And what say ye o' the respectable Radicals? North. Of the eight hundred, they may have composed about two; and though I do not well know what they would be at, I do know that, if they speak the truth, they now think very little of Lord Grey.

Tickler. I think, North, you may, in round numbers, say a thousand. For half-a-dozen from this place--and half-a-score from that-and so on in proportion to the size of the clachan -having no political principles at all-but entertaining a certain vague admiration of what are called liberal opinionsand admirers in a small, but not insincere way, of something they choose to call consistency—and having been assured by the wise men of the village, well read in Annual Registers,

MEAT BEFORE GRACE.

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that Lord Grey carried into effect the same plan of reform in 1831 that he had advocated in 1792-at great inconvenience, considerable expense, and some danger, came on outside places by heavy coaches to the great Grey dinner, and astonished their families on their return with descriptions of the Immense Wooden Erection, and the great lustre from the TheatreRoyal, dependent from the centre of the roof, and lighted with gas by pipes laid on purpose in cuts from the main conduita Fairy Palace!

North. My friend Hamilton is a man of skill, taste, and genius; and I am told the Pavilion was beautiful.

Shepherd. Was the denner really in great part devoored afore Yearl Grey took his seat by the side o' your worthy freen, the Lord Provost ?

Tickler. Not in great part devoured, James. The enemies of the Church began collecting their tithes. Perhaps a dozen tongues, as many how-towdies, half-a-score hams, two or three pigeon and some fifty mutton-pies were gobbled up without grace—and I believe a few buttocks of beef met with the same premature fate; but there was nothing like a general attack-and I wish that to be known in England, for the credit of my countrymen.

Shepherd. Abstinence under sic circumstances did them immortal honour-for imitation and sympathy are twa o' the strongest active principles in human natur; and the wonder is, that in ten minutes they didna soop the board. Cry "Fire" in a crooded kirk, and the congregation treads and chokes itsel to death in makin for the doors. Cry "Fa' to in a crooded Pavilion, and at the first clatter o' knife and fork on a trencher, what could hae been expeckit but that twa thousand five hunder Reformers would hae been ruggin awa at fish, flesh, and fule afore they discovered that it was a false alarm?

Tickler. The justification is complete.

Shepherd. Besides, them that did fasten on the vittals-by your accoont few in nummer-perhaps no aboon a hunder or twa-havin been in the open air a' day, assistin at the Procession, maun hae been desperate hungry-and few temptations are waur to resist than a sappy ham. Whigs, too, are great gluttons

Tickler. We Tories again are epicures.

LORD GREY'S SPEECH.

be seen at a Noctes, where we eat little,

North. I cannot charge my memory with a case of antebenediction gluttony at a great public Conservative dinner. Can you, James ?

Shepherd. I never hear the grace at a great public dennerthough I sometimes see an auld body at a distance haudin up his haun-but I certainly canna charge my memory wi' ony instance o' ony pairt o' ony Christian company consumin tongues, how-towdies, hams, pigeon and mutton pies, and buttocks o' beef, afore the arrival of the guest in whase honour, and in whase presence, it was intended the denner should be devoored to say naething o' his participation. Sic behaviour is in fact mair like beasts than men-and I dinna believe onything like it ever took place even in a dowgkennel. Jowlers are vorawcious brutes; but they sit on their hurdies wi' waterin chaps, till the whupper-in or the huntsman gies the signal-or cries, Soss! Soss! Soss! and then with one accord the canine crunch their cracklin.

North. Lord Grey spoke well; his demeanour was dignified; and he was listened to and looked at-as he deserved by his friends-with respect and admiration.

Shepherd. By you?

North. My dear Shepherd, I was not there-but I had an account of the evening from a Whig friend, on whose face I never can look without believing that he is a Tory. To my mind, Lord Grey disgraced himself by his vile misrepresentation of the sentiments that had been lately expressed by many distinguished Irish Protestants, lay and clerical, respecting the state of the Church and its affairs—and they are closely interwoven with the vital interests of the whole community-sentiments honourable to their character as men, and perfectly consistent with all Christian charities—but the expression of which had been grossly falsified by base reporters, who had been exposed by the calumniated to universal scorn. In this Lord Grey showed obstinate ignorance, at once contemptible and hateful; and on reading it, I covered my face with my hands to hide the burning blushes of shame that tingled there for sake of Lord Brougham, who chimed in with the peevish and malignant reproach-while he had the brazen assurance to declare, that he had heard then for the first time of the shocking outrage, by fierce Protestant bigotry,