Subject of them has but an inconsiderable landed Property, can only be expected from a very narrow circle of Neighbours;—­but place him at the head of a large Estate, and knowledge of what he is in these particulars must spread to a distance; and it will be further known how he has acted as a Magistrate, and in what manner he has fulfilled the duties of every important office which he may have been called to, by virtue of his possessions.

Such are the general principles of reason which govern law, and justify practice in this weighty matter.  The decision is not to take place upon imagination or conjecture.  It is not to rest upon professions of the Candidate, or protestations of his Friends.  As a County Representative is to be voted for by many—­many must have opportunities of knowing him; or, failing that intimate knowledge, we require the pledge of condition, the bond and seal of circumstance.  Otherwise we withhold our confidence, and cannot be prevailed upon to give, to the opinions of an Individual unbacked by these advantages, the countenance and authority which they might derive from being supposed to accord with those of numerous Constituents scattered over a wide Country, and therefore less liable to be affected by partial views, or sudden and transitory passion—­to diminish their value.

The Freeholders of past times knew that their rights were most likely to repose in safety, under the shade of rank and property.  Adventurers had no estimation among them; there was no room for them—­no place for them to appear in.—­Think of this, and ask if your Fathers, could they rise from their tombs, would not have stared, with no small degree of wonder, upon the Person who now solicits the Suffrages of the County of Westmoreland.  What are his Rents—­Where are his comings in?  He is engaged in an undertaking of great expence—­how is that expence supplied?  From his own purse?  Impossible!  Where are the golden sinews which this Champion of Independence depends upon?  If they be furnished by those who have no natural connection with the County, are we simple enough to believe that they dip their hands into their pockets out of pure good-will to us?  May they not rather justly be suspected of a wish to embroil us for some sinister purpose?  At all events, it might be some satisfaction would they shew themselves, so that, if we are to have a Subscription-candidate, we may know what sort of Persons he is indebted to, and at least be able to guess what they will require of him.

The principles that have been laid down, and the facts which have been adverted to, might seem to render it superfluous to retrace the public conduct of Mr. Brougham, and to enquire whether, in Parliament or at the London Tavern, in Palace Yard or elsewhere, those acts and courses, to which he himself refers as his only recommendation, do not still more unfit him for the trust which he covets.  But Persons fond of novelty make light of deficiencies which would