HTML Transcription © F.Coakley , 2009
[text of The Touchstone etc by John Duggan 1845]
FRIENDS AND COUNTRYMEN,
Amongst the numerous champions who have stood forth in defence of the House of Keys as now constituted, none has so openly and candidly avowed himself as John Courtney Bluett, Esq., Lieut. in the Royal Navy, Manx Advocate, Commissioner in Chancery, and Barrister at Law, as from an advertisement in the Advertiser of the 20th of November, I was particularly struck with the very formidable words, " The Constitution of the House of Keys, and the and expediency and Danger of Changing It. Price 6d." I at once felt perfectly petrified, completely dumb-foundered, and fancied that of the three legs Manxmen had to stand upon not even one would be left him whereby he might retain a footing, but that all would be swept away by the legal learning, " intense study," and " hard reading," that would be brought by John Courtney to bear upon the merits of the question. Such were the impressions which overpowered my mind when I procured a copy of the work, but I found it to be the dearest six pennyworth that was ever attempted to be forced down the throats of Manxmen ; and I was really sorry that Mr. Bluett should have devoted so much of his valuable time to so simple, so silly a production.
I should have deemed the work utterly and entirely unworthy of any notice, had it not contained statements opposed to facts, and other erroneous conclusions calculated to mislead and blindfold simple, honest Manxmen, and to prevent them from asserting their rights, from being placed in their proper position, acknowledged as men, and admitted to the rights of citizenship.
I feel it a duty, however, I owe to Mr. Bluett, to say, that the tone and temper which pervade his remarks,-the avoidance of all personality and low abuse commend him as a generous opponent, and one every way worthy of coping with, especially upon the vital question now at issue between the House of Keys and the country.-With my sling and stone, therefore, I go to fight this Goliath of Gath -----this champion of the hosts of the Philistines, and trust that I may lay this gigantic monster prostrate.
Our author puts forth to the world no fewer than 35 pages of letterpress to to prove that. the house of Keys are the Constitutional Representatives of the people of the Isle of Man ; and that they were never elected by the people, and that to change the mode of their appointment would be to endanger our Constitution; and the sole object of our author appears to be to perpetuate the present self-elected House of Keys, and to warn his countrymen against the persons and characters of those who seek to improve not destroy the old rusty bunch. Surely the" force of folly can no further go." Truly these lawyers can so smooth things over, and gloss them so as to mare the worse appear the better cause !
Let us proceed to remark upon the work now before us. In the 3rd page we find these remarkable words :" Although not myself one, all my children are natives of this Island." What does the learned gentleman presume ? Does the not mean to assert that there is a fearful, nay a wide legal distinction between himself and his own children ; that whilst he -himself is exposed to all the horrors and abominations of the Law of Arrest, his own children are entirely free from such a process. Now I do most respectfully submit, that a more powerful argument-a- better plea -a more irresistible claim for a Reform of the House of Keys, could not possibly have been adduced than the - fact, the simple fact, of there being a distinction-a wide but a legal distinction, between J. C. Bluett and his own children.
Why should there be distinction between Mr. Bluett and his own children ?-between man and man-between a native and a non-native or stranger ?-and why should a non-native be called a stranger, and not rather viewed and hailed as a friend and a brother, and what would our Island be were it not for strangers ?
This question may be viewed in its proper light if we only simply inquire when a Manxman goes to Enghand, is be there regarded as a stranger ? Is he there looked upon with doubt and suspicion ? Is he not whilst there placed upon the same footing exactly as an Englishman ? If such be the case, why should there be a distinction between an Englishman coming to the Isle of Man, and a Manxman going to England, Ireland, or Scotland ? Will Mr. Bluett defend such an order of things, and such a House of Keys, who tolerate the same ? If so, I pity his mean, cringing, low, servile spirit. But allow me to assure him that as God is our Creator ; as sure as the sun shines in the firmament of heaven ; and as sure as the tide ebbs and flows, there will--there must be a new order of things, there must be a House of Keys chosen by the people, and that all distinctions between man and man must be swept away, and expunged from the Statute Book, and every man be viewed as an Englishman and a Briton; and such I doubt not would be one of the very first acts of a Reformed House of Keys.
How innumerable are the heart-burnings and heart -breakings such an act has been productive of, and how deeply has it tended, and still does tend, to injure the country, few know better than Mr. Bluett, as well as what a fearful source of gain such an act has been to all the Manx advocates.
Our author goes on to observe, " that the future welfare of our peaceful and happy little country is very greatly endangered by the question now agitated in reference to the popular election of the House of Keys;" permit me to opine and say more to the contrary; that not only the peace and happiness, but the prosperity of the country will be greatly promoted by such a change; at least such are the firm convictions of my mind.
Again ! at page 4 our author says It is manifest that the public at large have a very insufficient knowledge of the true state of the question, and are led away by confident assertions of others, who are themselves deceived, otherwise they never could make statements so utterly at variance with history and fact."
Now ! to charge " the public at large" with ignorance of the true state of the question, is false, and I am bold to affirm that " the public at large" fully understand the true state of the question equally as well, if not more so, than Mr. Bluett himself; and it is only charitable to suppose that Mr. B. is deceived himself, and therefore likely to deceive others.
But what the statements are which Mr. Bluett asserts " they make utterly at, variance with history and fact," I am at a loss to discover; they may, however, exist in the fertile brain of our author, and as he studied Phrenology under the celebrated Mrs. Hamilton, he may probably be able to inform us in what particular bump of his cranium this fact is developed.
In order to mislead the public mind, he states that, " one of these parties seeks to effect a vital change in the Constitution-to introduce an entirely new order of things-and that from this change they profess to expect the greatest possible advantages."
Now, what is the total change sought for in the Constitution of the country ? It is simply this :- " The people of the Isle of Man demand the privilege of choosing their own Representatives." Now is this a vital change in the Constitution of our country ? Nay, rather, is it not-would it not-be a VITAL IMPROVEMENT in the Constitution of our country ? Yes ! It is a consummation devoutly to be wished, and for which every true lover of his country ought to strive, to seek, and to pray.
I submit it to the cooler judgment of Mr. Bluett himself whether there be any thing unfair-whether there be any thing unreasonable -whether there be any thing unwise-whether there be any thing unjust-in Manxmen requiring a vote in the choice of their own Representatives ? If, therefore, there be nothing unfair, nothing unreasonable, nothing unjust in what we seek, why should such a fair, reasonable, and just claim be refused, or withheld from a truly loyal people? And why should Mr. Bluett lend his aid to prevent Manxmen from seeking and enjoying this privilege ? Nay ! why should he strive to keep Manxmen in darkness, in thraldom, and in ignorance ? Should be not rather have striven to raise them into political existence-to acknowledge them as men and brethren-and admit them to the rights of citizenship, and that too in their own country ?
Our author terms those who seek an Elective House of Keys, Reformers, whilst those who wish to preserve the House unchanged call themselves Conservatives. Now in politics I am a decided Conservative, still I am, at the same time, most decidedly one of those who seek an improvement in the Representation of my country ; and although Conservative, yet for this I am called Reformer-so strange are the vagaries of this sleek writer, who lays bountifully the " flattering unction" on the souls of his readers.
After twenty-two years of " intense study," and in collecting together " the sinews and substance of all information, he is irresistibly drawn to conclude that the promoters of the change sought for, are erroneous in, their statements, fallacious in their reasons, delusive in their promises, and that a House o£ Keys elected by the people would minister to their irreparable injury, and be equally destructive of their best interests, and their internal peace."
Our author further adds:- ` I am persuaded that. the British Government in the magnanimous exercise of its power will leave our Constitution untouched, so long as we ourselves respect it, but if we cease to revere, and seek to change it, Her Majesty's Government MAY save us the trouble, and blot out for ever our Independent Coustitution, which has ever been to them a source of annoyance, vexation, and trouble."
Such a train of bombast, vanity, and falsehood, it has never before been my lot to contradict. Vain in his imagination, his foolish conceptions warp him so as to assume the prophetic, and with " all the sinews of his information" he asserts that the " magnanimity of Her Majesty's Government may blot out our Independent Constitution." That would indeed be magnanimity of a singular order, which would blot out our Independent Constitution for annoying and troubling Her Majesty's Government! In what way ? Why! by remitting to the British Exchequer a surplus revenue of upwards of £20,000 per annum-an annoyance and trouble the Government delight, nay, perfectly delight in. " Cease to revere, and seek to change our Constitution." Never ! no never! will we seek to change our Constitution. But let me inform Mr. Bluett what we require. We require our Constitution to be IMPROVED. That is our watchword-improvement in the Representation. We require our House of Keys to be purified from the rust of time. We require it to be strengthened, to be established, and placed upon a broader, purer, and more permanent foundation, and for this we will seek, labour and contend. Let not Mr. Bluett, or any other person, attempt to gull and blindfold Manxmen by debarring them from their free-born rights ;-by persuading them that it would be " an irreparable injury, and destructive of- their best interests" to have " the House of Keys elected by the people." What an imputation upon the better judgment and the common sense of my countrymen ! But coming from the light brain of our author it loses the weight and influence it otherwise would have. I strongly recommend Mr. Bluett not to try to mislead Manxmen by maintaining propositions so diametrically opposed to truth and all good goverrnment.
What! does he mean to contend that the blessings of a representative and responsible Government would be "an irreparable injury," and destructive of the best interests" of Manxmen ? Surely that man - must be stark staring mad who has the hardihood to avow such sentiments, and call only be a fit inmate for an asylum, of which he promises fairly to become,
Here I beg to appeal to my countrymen and to all true lovers of their country, whether the advantages arising from a self-elected and irresponsible body can be compared to those likely to arise from an elected and responsible one ? Such is the question now before the country, and we wait the result with feelings flushed with confidence, for it is apparent that our author's statements are erroneous-his reasoning fallacious-and his promises delusive ; nay, that the whole fabric he labours to defend is a " mockery, a delusion, and a snare."
About 30 pages of our author's publication are devoted to shew that the House of Keys are the Representatives of the people, yet not elected by them. What a pity that the time of a man of Mr. Bluett's abilities should be taken up in proving what every body knows to be the case, and which no person whatever disputes. It is a poor way of meeting the question at issue. But Mr. Bluett charges the Reformers with asserting that "because the House of Keys are not elected by the people the British Government bold them in contempt-has not paid and will not pay any respect to their representations for the good of the Island." Now this is the first time I have heard such a charge ; it is a most gratuitous one, and against those friendly to an improved House of Keys ; besides, it is a gross, downright fabrication, and unworthy of Mr. Bluett to say so. I challenge hire to the proof, and he cannot serve the cause he opposes better than by advancing such misrepresentations. I repeat that I never heard of, nor saw in print, such a charge against our worthy Irreo sponsibles.
But silence a little! Our author in page 34, calls upon any person who has asserted that the British Government held in contempt, and would not listen to the representations of the House of Keys, to inform him which of the members of Her Majesty's Government it was who so stated, inasmuch as it is a foul slander, Now, is not this lawyer-like ? Our author accuses Reformers with having asserted that Government treated our House of Keys with contempt, and instead of proving iris case, and bringing the question home, he parries it by calling upon his opponents to establish a- charge they entirely repudiate. This is a fine specimen of Mr. Bluett's special pleading. In page 19, our author asks, "If the Representatives of our Island are not elected as the members ot' the British Constitution are, (which be admits) what have we to do with the Constitution of any other nation ? That which may work admirably- well in one country, may be wholly unnecessary under the peculiar circumstances of another, and such is the case with the Isle of Man."
It may possibly be true that what works well in one country- may not do so in another; bitt I have always been led to honour and revere the British Constitution above all others, as the purest and best Constitution, nay, as the admiration and envy of the whole world. And for attempting to elect the House of Keys as they do the House of Commons-to infuse into the Manx Constitution a little of the lifeblood, soul, and energy, of that of the British-and moulding it so that it may be made to harmonize with the light, the spirit, and, the intelligence of the times, and with the free and liberal institutions of the mother country ; for all this we are charged with attempting to destroy the peace, happiness, and best interests of our little community. Such a charge we throw back upon our author, who would prevent any improvement being introduced into our Constitution, and who seeks to perpetuate a Scandinavian, despotic, self-elect, and irresponsible House of Keys, and bind Manxmen down in error, in darkness, and in chains.
If the House of Keys successfully resisted the attempts of the Duke of Athol to break the Act of Settlement, let them have credit for the same, but history fully satisfies me that it is to, his Grace alone we are indebted for the continuation of that Act, a Bill having passed the House of Commons, and would have passed the House of Lords, destroying that Act, had not his Grace withdrawn it. All this laudation, therefore, comes with a bad --grace from the very person who has now moved our High Court of Chancery that Manxmen be re-strained from having the free control or disposition of their property
So much for consistency in men.
"To what base uses we may return,, Horatio !"
We now come to page 24, with the celebrated declaration of His Grace the Duke of Athol. "We," say the Keys, " are the Representatives of the people." " No !" says the Duke, " you are no more the Representatives of the people of the Isle of Man, than you are of the inhabitants of Peru." Our author states that " it is to be regretted that the hasty speech of a deceased nobleman spoken unadvisedly, and under the excitement of the times, should, for party purposes, be brought forward as an authority ; the statement may have its weight with uninformed persons, and notwithstanding this unhappy speech, there is no evidence to shew that His Grace in writing did ever declare that the Keys were not the Representatives of the people."
Now, I beg most distinctly to deny Mr. Bluett's statement, that the speech in question was a " hasty speech." I had the honour of being in Court at the time the speech was delivered, and I am bold to maintain that a more cool, deliberate, and truthful speech was never delivered by his Grace. Yes! the noble Duke was always above indulging in low feelings; he was always princely, noble, generous in disposition, and his heart was fraught with good to Manxmen; and he did inform the House of Keys that they were in opposition to the people, that they had sacrificed their welfare, and the welfare of the country, to gratify their own private interests and feelings; and which I will undertake to shew. About that time the Keys made several attempts to obtain an alteration in the Corn Laws. At that time foreign grain was allowed to be imported into the Island, duty free, to be consumed therein, and corn grown in the Island was permitted to be exported to England; thus the people ate their bread at the lowest price, and the farmer sold his corn at the best and highest market. This was the greatest blessing,-the most invaluable privilege,-the most inestimable boon the country ever did, or ever will enjoy.
But this privilege was too great a blessing for Manxmen to enjoy; it entered, therefore, into the heads of the " CONSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE" to deprive them of this privilege, and they actually applied to Mr. Curwen, M.P., who succeeded in raising the price of the loaf; and flour, which one day was 7lbs. for one shilling, the day after was only 4lbs. for the shilling ; and on complaint being made by the public, one of the Constitutional Representatives told them to " go along and eat sea-weed," that being good enough for them. This man, however, some time afterwards blew his brains out in Edinburgh, whilst the pinching necessities of the poor drove them to open acts of violence. Now I want no other argument,-no other fact whatever, to stamp the character of the Representatives of the people with a turpitude only equalled but not surpassed by that of the prisoners of Ham, and nothing can wash away the stains of the House whilst this great fact stands recorded in the history of the country. Representatives of the people ! What means the word Representative ? I refer to my dictionary, and find it to be " a substitute in power"-a " deputy." Now, I put it to any thinking man : Are the House of Keys the substitutes of the people ? Are they put in power by the people ? Are they the deputies of the people ? Are they identified with the people ? Are their acts in harmony with the wishes and wants of the country ? Answer me this, Mr. Bluett. You must know in your heart and soul, that they represent the Peruvians, that they represent the Chinese, as much as they represent the people of the Isle of Man ; and that they are equally as much the substitutes and deputies in power of the people of Peru and China, as they are of the inhabitants of this Island; and your whole pamphlet goes to prove my doctrine.
As you have established your views that the House of Keys were elected by the Lords of Man, they consequently could not be the Representatives of the people, not being chosen by them, and Mr. Bluett must know that strictly, virtually, and truly speaking, the House of Keys are not the deputies-are not the representatives of the people,-and even the boys in the streets cry out-The Rusty Bunch-The Self-elect-The Irresponsibles,-so low have the members sank in public estimation.
" O wad some pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us
It wad frae monie a blunder free as
And foolish notion."
I would here submit that were the country to come forward unanimously or generally, and ask or demand of our House of Keys that the members be permitted to be chosen by the people, a claim so fair-so reasonable-and so just, should not be refused, but by yielding to the fair claims of the country they would raise themselves at once in public estimation and in public confidence; and thus imitate the example of the first nation upon earth, who at the passing of the Reform Bill, and at the request of the people of the United Kingdom, conferred the franchise upon large towns; and thus amended the representation of the country.
I would again ask the members of the House why they should wish to retain their seats, when it is evidently the wish of the country that they should not do so ? They may rely upon it, that if they do not concede so fair a claim, they must ultimately be compelled to yield it, and that with by no means a good grace.
That the House of Keys are not virtually the Representatives of the people, we will prove by examining their history,--testing their acts and deeds,-and showing the manner in which they have attended to the vital, the trading, and the commercial interests of the commu- pity; and also in what manner the wishes, wants, and applications of the inhabitants have been listened to and treated by them.
On reference to the report of the Commissioners who were sent down by Government, in 1791, it will be found that for a century previous to that time, his Grace the Duke of Athol's ancestors had been literally robbed of their just rights. Read the following evidence of his Honor Deemster Moore :-" He retired from business in 1756, between which year and 1765, to his knowledge, silks purchased at the India House, in London, and silks from Spain of considerable value, were landed in the Isle of Man without paying the duties to the Duke of Athol." And further: " That in the winter of 1764, or spring of 1765, great quantities of teas were landed without paying duties. And he saw great quantities of tea piled up in the parlour of his own house near Ballasalla, then uninhabited, which had not paid the duties."
See also the evidence of Coultry Connell, a man born in the town of Douglas, and a cooper by trade. He states, " that prior to, 1765, he has seen seven or eight pipes of brandy at a time taken from the Quay, between one or two o'clock in the middle of the day, they never having been guaged, fraudulent advantage having been taken by the absence of the officer."
Read also the evidence of Mr. William Crebbin, merchant,. Douglas :-" He has known instances of the revenues of the Duke of Athol not being duly collected, for the most part in the silk way, but also upon teas, wines, brandy, and tobacco. Such transactions were considered fair game; and he had no doubt but that his Grace's family had been defrauded of some thousands per annum, as the temptation was irresistible; and it was evident to him that the revenues due to his Grace's family were neither fairly entered, collected, nor paid, prior to the Revestment; and he formed his opinion of the losses sustained by the Duke's family upon his general knowledge of what he had seen done."
In consequence of the late Duke of Athol succeeding to the rights of the Island before he was of age, various Acts of Tynwald were passed by the House of Keys, directly affecting his Grace's interests, one of which was " An Act for the Settlement of the Lord's Manor Courts," passed in a closet behind the Duke of Athol's back, and which opened the eyes of Lord Sydney (then Secretary of State) to the Duke's situation, and he ordered a copy of the Act to be forwarded to the Duke, who stated his objections to Lord Kenyon, then Attorney-General, and the Royal Assent was refused.
Another Act was also transmitted for Royal Assent, entituled " An Act to raise Money to re-build the House of Keys, and for discharging the Public Debts of the said Isle," &c., &c. This was in fact an Act for the purpose of paying Mr. Taubman's and other expenses in opposing the Duke of Athol's interests in England. This Act was also sent by Lord Sydney to his Grace, who protested against it, and it met with its deserved fate-IT was REJECTED.
His Grace was then advised to visit the Island, with which advice he complied, and arrived here on the 5th of July, 1788, and remained sixteen days on the Island. He was received and treated with every mark of attention by the Governor and the Keys.. He was then a young man, and mixed freely with the people. He left the Island perfectly satisfied that all hostility between the Keys and himself was at an end; as it had never been intimated to him that any underground plot was in progress against him, when, to ! he had scarcely touched English ground ere he received from Lord Sydney a copy of a memorial which had been transmitted to him by Governor Smith, five days before his Grace's arrival in the Island. This low, underhand work for falsehood and malice could only be equalled by the memorial of Sept. 3, 1821, or the petition to the House of Commons in 1824, which was fully answered at the time, and may be found at the Home Office.
This memorial materially benefitted his Grace, and convinced the British Government that he had been maliciously attacked by a. party in the Island, and it procured for him a Commission to ascertain the respective rights of the Crown, the people, and his Grace That the revenues arising to the Athol family had not been fairly collected, even prior to the Investment; and that the former Duke of Athol disposed of his property in utter ignorance of its value and extent, and after the Investment Acts were passed multiplying the duties in some instances twelve times, and in almost every other case five times.
So convinced were His Majesty's Government by the Report of the Commissioners of 1791 that His Grace had been defrauded,that he required and deserved the utmost protection they could give him-and that be was fully entitled to remuneration, and which Parliament granted him in 1805.
This Act also'met the violent opposition of the House of Keys, and they for a century allowed the Athol family to be defrauded of their just rights.
About 1813, the House passed an Act called " The Strangers' Act," which subjected all strangers who came to the Island to arrest for debts contracted off the Island. Although very young at the time, I remember the terrible excitement it created at the moment, and which has been felt, and is even complained of occasionally to the present day. Previous to the passing of that Act, all persons who came to the Island were free from arrest for debts contracted in the United Kingdom. Hence this was called a Place of Refuge, as a man could not be touched for debts contracted before he came here. The consequence of which Act was, that all the strangers were driven away, and others debarred from coming, and the money which used lavishly to be spent here is now expended on the Continent. This was certainly a great privilege for the Island to enjoy. With what feelings save those of scorn, contempt, and indignation, can we look upon men who would barter their country's rights in opposition to the wishes and to the interests of the community ? and this feeling is most deeply and sensibly felt, and very generally expressed even at the present day.
In 1820, Government levied additional duties-brainly and hollands, which were 3s. per gallon, were raised to 4s. 6d.; and rum, which was 2s., was raised to 3s. per gallon. Now if we calculate this increase for 22 years only, we shall find the amount to be prodigious :-
1s. 6d. per gallon on 20,000 gallons of brandy and gin, would produce annually £1,500, which, multiplied by 22,
would give an aggregate of .............................................................................................£33,000
1s. per gallon on 60,000 gallons of rum would, during the same period, produce .............£66,000
Add to this the duty on the overplus strength of rum for 10 years, say ............................. £20,000
......................................................................................................................................£
119,000
Now I ask, in the name of all that is sacred to man, who permitted such a shameful imposition upon the country ? and who will have to answer to their country and to posterity ?: Will it not be the House of Keys ?
Again! who quarrelled with his Grace the Duke of Athol, annoyed him, thwarted him, opposed him, persecuted him-nay, even petitioned the British Government to purchase his manorial and other rights, and thus for ever exclude from the Island the only nobleman and the best friend Manxmen ever had ? As a nobleman he was princely, generous, and conciliating in all his ways; promoting to offices of honour and power even his opponents, insomuch that Mr. Curwen, M.P., declared, when speaking in the House of Commons, that be " should not have been more surprised had he been told that His Majesty had appointed him to be Bey of Algiers, than he was when informed that his Grace the Duke of Athol had appointed his son one of the Judges in the Isle of Man."
Here permit me to put a few questions-Did the people of the Isle of Man ever ask the House of Keys to force the Duke of Athol to sell the country ? Did they represent the people of the Isle of Man ? Did they consult the people when they perpetrated such. a deed of wickedness ? I hesitate not to affirm, that the greatest national loss and calamity the Island ever sustained was that of the House of Keys having driven the Duke of Athol to the extremity of selling his manorial and other rights. In the Duke of Athol we had a shield !-a tower of defence! !-a FRIEND ! ! ! But to whom do we Now look to protect our interests, or defend our rights ? Is IT NOT TO DR. BOWRING ? A comparative stranger! However, to proceed- We had no sooner parted with the Duke, than down came the British Government upon us, and the bonded warehouses were effectually closed against us. The goods which we were allowed to have free of duty, out of bond, we were compelled to pay the English duty upon, and on the importation thereof into the Island a further duty of £3 per cent.- This I calculate at upwards of £3,000 a-year-in all to no less than £48,000 and upwards.
I appeal to any experienced merchant upon this point. Did the Keys resist the passing of this Bill, or did they ever remonstrate in the slightest manner with the Government upon the subject ? No ! no!! no!!!
If the House of Keys were the Representatives of the people, where were they at that time ? Let them be candid for once, and admit that they' knew nothing of the matter, or, at all events that they totally neglected the best and dearest interests of the country. Let them deny it, if they have the hardihood to do so. I lay it to their charge.
About two years subsequent to that event, the Government, without any ceremony, deprived us of the debenture on crown and green glass; and the poor man's pane of glass- and the rich man's wine bottle were actually doubled in price, without any reason whatever being assigned for so doing. And where, I ask, were our Representatives at that time ? Our' Island echo answers-Where ! And I further ask, what did they ever do to have this privilege restored ?NOTHING WHATEVER!!
A few years afterwards some error was discovered in the Corn Bill, and it was stated that foreign grain was "murdered ;" meaning that it was merely" crushed or bruised;" and we were again permitted to have corn free. Reports, however, pressing upon the British Government, a Commissioner was sent over to investigate the matter, and although not a scintilla of guilt was established against the inhabitants of having traded illegally in foreign grain, yet the House of Keys took no measure whatever to resist the intentions of the Home Government to deprive Manxmen A SECOND TIME of free corn and flour, and the poor and industrious sons of Mona had, (through the worse than inactivity and neglect of their Representatives) literally speaking, the bread AGAIN taken out of their mouths, . and they were a second time deprived of the most invaluable boon they ever did, or ever can enjoy.
Such, however, is the infatuation by which our House of Keys are actuated, and so totally blinded, and warped are they by self-interest and prejudice, that nothing can open their eyes to see, their ears to hear, or their hearts to understand what constitutes the strength, the interests, and the prosperity of the country.
In 1833, a Bill was introduced into Parliament to subject the overproof strength of rum (which had heretofore never been paid) to a duty of 3s. per degree on its importation into the Island. The merchants drew up a petition against the measure, which was transmitted to Lord Althorp, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, who being a member of the Administration, declined presenting it. It was then forwarded to that well-known, and at that time popular character, Joseph Hume, who merely observed, that it was a petition from the Isle of Man; consequently the Bill passed, and the public have since that period been subjected to, or rather say robbed of upwards of £2,000 per annum. Thus have we been literally treated as freebooters-yea, as Scandinavians.
I ask-I call-upon Mr. Bluett to state whether our House of Keys did, or said anything upon this important question ? Did they call their constituents together, and offer their services to resist to the backbone such shameful impositions upon their suffering countrymen ? Let him answer me this, if he can ! I defy him to do it in the affirmative. Nor will the House of Keys ever be able to atone for the evils-the irremediable evils they have inflicted upon poor little Mona.
Soon after this period, robberies and nightly depredations of a most fearful nature were committed in the town of Douglas, and carried on to such an extent that public meetings. were culled, resolutions and subscriptions entered into, and a Committee appointed to form a temporary police establishment for the preservation of the peace, and the protection of life and property ; and this police force was to continue until such time as the House of Keys should pass an Act of Tynwald to watch, light, and cleanse the neglected town of Douglas ; to attain which object a petition was got up, and from the number of signatures, and from the rank and station of the parties whose names were: attached, a more respectable petition was never presented to the present House of Keys. Almost every member of the House promised me to support it, and Bishop Ward (who gave £5 towards the police fund) promised me also to give it his aid and sanction in the Council. It was entrusted for presentation to the Hon. Col. Murray and Mr. E. Forbes; its prayer was, that " in consequence of the numerous and fearful robberies that had recently taken place, and the then inadequate state of our constabulary force, a Bill might be passed for the formation of a police establishment." Everything seemed to go on well, and to bid fair for success ; and no one for a moment doubted but that claims so fair, so reasonable, so just, nay so absolutely necessary, would have been conceded most readily. But no ! no ! ! Our reasonable, our absolute wishes and wants were BURKED -LITERALLY BURKED ! and entirely refused by our Representatives. So perfectly disgusting was their conduct upon this occasion, that many gentlemen declared that they would never again subject themselves to insult and contempt by signing a petition to the House of Keys, such Legislators being deemed nothing more or less than " a mockery, a delusion, and a snare." About six months afterwards, an Act was passed appointing Magistrates, which not a single soul in the country, either by petition or otherwise, ever asked them to do. The Magistrates then appointed a clerk, at a salary of £100 per annum ! ! ! Such is the way and manner in which the vital interests of our little country are attended to by a Legislature responsible to nobody whatever.
About two years after this the affairs of the Woodville Building Company having become embarrassed, the members, in devising schemes to extricate themselves from their unpleasant situation, hit upon the ingenious one of disposing of their property by public lottery, and they had actually made arrangements with parties to have the property so disposed of, when, to the surprise of every person, the House of Keys met, a Bill was ordered to be prepared for the suppression of all lotteries in the Isle of Man, and in a few days afterwards it actually passed the House, notwithstanding counsel, viz., Mr. Dumbell, was heard at the bar of the House in opposition to the same, yet all the rules, all the standing orders, all the forms of the House were actually broken down, violated, and scattered to the winds, and the Bill passed with a precipitancy, indecency, and indelicacy that would disgrace any set of men ; and even at the promulgation of this Act, a petition, the full length of St. John's Chapel, was presented against it, but all to no purpose.
When we thus see the privileges of a country cut down, frittered away, and destroyed by a self-elect junta, the mind recoils at the idea. And when we further see the interests, the wants, the reasonable wishes of a suffering portion of the community scattered to the winds of heaven by the very people who profess to be our Representatives, it out-Herods all the infamy of Herod. Many instances occur which might be advanced to prove that if the House of Keys had been responsible for their acts and deeds, they would not have been suffered to retain their present position-at all events not their seats. Look at their acts and deeds for the promotion and protection of trade and commerce in 1837, when they sent a deputation to London, with Mr. Bluett and two other delegates upon the part of the people.What did they offer the Government, and what would they have submitted to ? Why, they offered to give up the timber, upon being allowed 6½ inches; and when the late delegates from the trade asked to be allowed 10 inches square, Ministers turned round and said Oh! your deputation in 1837 only asked 6½ inches, and you now ask 10; we think that very unfair; but to meet you in a spirit of fairness, we will say 8 inches; and (in 1837) both delegations actually asserted that half the English duties on spirits would be submitted to by the poor passive Manxmen, and were it not for the weakness and ignorance of the then Ministry, the Isle of Man would have suffered from the equal ignorance of both parties.
But what could a commercial people expect from such a man as Mr. Bluett being sent to negotiate a treaty of commerce ? The very people that chose him to that office, and who have lately tasted a little commercial freedom; are now seeking, asking, labouring, and knocking at the door of the House of Keys, in order to obtain a very little degree of political liberty. But, says this man of the people, if you do so, " the fear of God will be banished from before your eyes, the love of God excluded from your hearts, and you will be abandoned by your Maker, and given over to work all uncleanness with greediness, and to a reprobate mind ;-bribery, perjury, and drunkenness will be sure to sink the people, and steep them in iniquity to the very eyes ; and nothing but envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness,' will abound." In short, Pandora's box will be poured out upon your devoted heads, because you " disregard the honour and glory of Almighty God," by attempting to elect an honest House of Keys!! How deeply do I lament that Mr. Bluett should so impiously prostitute his valuable time and splendid talents, by making assertions so strong, so sweeping, so vile, so infamous-so dishonourable to any man possessed of a particle of proper Christian feeling or principle. What ! the very men who have effected great good to our little country, and who are now rallying around our time-hallowed and time-bonoured Constitution ; seeking by all constitutional means to preserve it in all purity, simplicity, and integrity, but in no other way ; counting her towers, marking her bulwarks, strengthening her fortifications, so that the rusts and imperfections which time has produced may be purified, nay, removed; that her battlements may be strengthened, and her works so renovated that it may be made to harmonize with the improvements of the age, and those which prevail in the British Legislature, and in British Legislation. Yes, we are seeking to raise our little Constitution in public esteem-in public honour-and in public confidence; that it may be placed upon the broadest and surest foundation; and that we may be blessed by having Representative and Responsible Government; so that " the beauty of the Lord our rod may rest upon us;" that "be may prosper the work of our hands upon us, and our bandy work to establish it," and for this toil and labour we are, Sir; by you, branded as persons seeking "to destroy' our Constitution," and;4-disregarding the honor and glory of almighty God!".
I again submit it to every man of correct Christian feeling, if such conduct should be permitted in a gentleman who is almost daily mixing freely with' those be thus anathematises, and upon whom he so much depends for professional support ?
Nearly the whole of Mr. Bluett's Second Letter is taken up in pointing out the evils attendant upon popular election, and in denouncing in the strongest terms all parties favourable thereto, as labouring under strong delusions, and. who believe a lie.
Let us inquire :whether popular election, having its disadvantages may not have its corresponding advantages also ? Now, suppose Mr. Bluett could procure Commissioners to come down from London to inquire into the state of the Representation here, and after having so done, these Commissioners return to the Government, and say" We have just returned from. the Isle of Man, and we found there a most respectable Legislature, a House of Keys, self-elect, for life, and irresponsible, and 60,000 of Her Majesty's subjects living in blissful ignorance of the exercise of the elective franchise, and ' where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise,' we, the Commissioners, therefore recommend Her Majesty's Government to introduce the very same form of Government as is adopted in the Isle of Man; that the present House of Commons do sit for life; and that they never publish the receipts or disbursements of the revenues of the kingdom, and you will have no popular elections. You will 'be peaceful and happy,' like ' the peasantry in Scotland,' as manufacturing districts abound in iniquity, and are injurious to the people, and that when any public good is required counsel will be heard at the bar of the House of Commons, and it will be granted ; and we feel perfectly justified in proposing this scheme of Government, it having been pressed upon our best attention by a high legal functionary, an English barrister residing in the Isle of Man, John Courtney Bluett, Esq., you will then have a form of Government that will be a paragon of beauty, and to add to its character it is the very form of Government handed down unimpaired from that Scandinavian, despotic, bloodthirsty, old barbarian, King Orry. "
Now think you! what would you fancy if such a return were made by the Commissioners, and what would Her Majesty's Ministers say to the Commissioners who dare presume to offer such suggestions ?
They at least would give directions that the unfortunate Commissioners capable of offering such hair-brained advice should have their heads shaved, and be committed to Hanwell Asylum during Her Majesty's pleasure; and that to the English barrister in the Isle of Man who pressed such views upon them, a precept should be forwarded to the House of Keys to have him confined in the apartments in Peel Castle formerly occupied by Eleanor, Duchess of Glocester, where it would be out of his power to do any more harm, and where he would have the " spectre hound" or the " mauthe dhoo" for his guard.
Popular election may give rise to some agitation ; yet a certain degree of agitation is absolutely necessary for the public welfare. But to imagine drat the excesses pointed out by Mr. Bluett would take place here, is too, much of an assumption, and a shameful imputation upon the cool Manxman. What temptation would there be to lead to bribery or drunkenness ? You might as well assert when the Odd Fellows choose their Provincial Grand Master, or a Benefit Society its President, that bribery, drunkenness, and corruption take place.Now, who ever saw or thought of anything so truly absurd ? Carry out this principle upon a larger scale, and could it not be done with equal success and with equal advantages ? Again, let us look to surrounding nature. There is the mighty deep, the wide spread ocean before us! how beautifully still, lovely and transparent does it appear in the summer season ; but let it become stagnant, and neither ebb nor flow, will it not become so putrid that neither man nor beast could exist ? But let the winds blow, the sea and waves roar, do not the tossing, the lashing, and dashing of the mighty deep actually tend to its purification and to its strength ? And do they not also throw up its vast resources of sea-weed calculated to enrich and fertilize the soil? So it is with the body politic. Ifit be allowed to remain still and stagnant it becomes putrid, offensive, and destructive, insomuch that necessary excitement and wholesome agitation are as absolutely essential to its purification and consolidation as to the mighty deep itself.
As to the expense for registration, it is paltry, mean, and contemptible to refer to it. Who paid the expenses of the deputation to London, or Mr. White's expenses there ? Under a change, we should have our Representatives to go to for advice and protection from " the oppressor's wrong and the proud man's contumely." Litigation will then be avoided, and we shall save in matters of law alone what will tend to promote our domestic comfort, and defray the petty expenses of registration.
Mr. Bluett states that "disunion and party spirit would so powerfully prevail, that rancour and bitterness would divide the people," and urges these as reasons why we should not have popular elections. Now,
Mr. Bluett, let me beg of you not to be so uncharitable as to be the first to fan the flame of such sentiments ; but permit us view it a few minutes.
Suppose that Mr. G. is waited upon by his constituents, and requested to be their Representative, the day of election arrives, and he would be returned at once, no one would oppose him, so high is his standing and character in our little community. Now where, I ask, is the perjury and drunkenness with which Manxmen are now stigmatised as likely to resort? We will put another case :-Col. Taubman and Mr. Bluett become candidates for Douglas; the voters go to the poll ; can any one imagine there would be much bribery or drunkenness there-or would there be much difference of opinion as to who would be the successful candidate ? I think not. But why does not Mr. Bluett lend a hand to supply what is wanting to strengthen that which is weak and wavering ? Is he not too deeply interested in perpetuating the present abominable and abusive order of things, not the least of which is the obnoxious distinction between himself and his own children ? And is he not interested in fostering unhappy divisions between neighbour and neighbour, so much to be deplored by every Christian ?
To deter Manxmen from asserting their freedom and rights this Champion of the Hosts of the Philistines asserts that the expenses of registration and voting would all fall upon the " land," the " broad acres." Faugh ! How futile, how absurd, how artful and deceptive such sentiments are. Are there no other rights, no interests to promote and protect ? Are trade, commerce, and manufactures not to be cherished and fostered by Manxmen ? and will not the advantages obtained be infinitely counterbalanced by any trifling expense we should be put to ?
But to answer this question fully, and to put Mr. Bluett effectually to silence, I ask him is he ignorant that so beneficial is the change that has already taken place, that the value of house and land property in the Island is actually increased fully 10 per cent., and is still increasing, and will continue so to do in spite of Mr. Bluett's unhallowed attempts to blindfold the Manx people, and prevent them from asserting their rights, liberties, and privileges, and that in the name and in the fear of their Maker; and further, that as a right they owe to themselves, to their children, to their country, and to posterity to whom it is their duty to transmit them down, not only unimpaired, but improved, and whilst such are the noble views we shall ever cherish, we doubt not but we will receive the fostering care and ample protection of the mighty power of the British Government, who seeing us striving to raise, dignify, and ennoble our own Constitution, will readily lend us a helping hand.
Mr. Bluett proceeds to say-, Manxmen enjoy all the luxuries and necessaries of life." A Manxman enjoy luxuries ! Oh, yes ! a Manxman could enjoy luxuries equal to any man if be could only procure them ; luxuries come with most singular complacency from the very man who is foremost to assert that trade, commerce, manu factures, and British gold introduced and spread throughout our land would make us " a sinful people," " a people laden with iniquity," " a seed of evil doers;" that"vice, profligacy, debauchery and drunkenness would so abound that the contemplation of the same is fearful."
How infamous, how ignorant, how consummate must be the assurance of that writer who could pourtray such a mass of indelicacy and obscenity, that full employment, good wages, cheap beef, cheap bread, and good clothing would confer upon the working classes of the community. " Oh! for a whip in every honest hand to lash the scoundrel naked through the world!"
Who but a maniac would even insinuate so fearful an excess of crime for Manxmen to fall into ? It is perfectly disgusting; but lot me assure the writer that, by attempting to defend his cause by such weakness, he is in the most essential manner serving and promoting that which he is seeking and labouring to destroy; he is causing my countrymen to think coolly, and then they will act promptly, and root up, and root out all barbarous and abominable laws and usages.
" What do the Reformers promise you ? What can they perform ?
Just NOTHING. Yet I see something most alluring about wealth and prosperity flowing into the country marvellously, the Island would be an emporium of trade and manufactures, and a few avaricious speculators would amass wealth, and our country population would be converted into manufacturers and labourers, who would be crowded together in town, that their obnoxious cottages may not offend the great landed proprietors, who would buy up all your land, who then is to be in the country."
Such is the reasoning of our author. I have heard of a man leaving blue-wits, yet it occurs to me the writer may have green-wits; but of this I ant perfectly satisfied, and a doubt does not exist upon my mind, that he must be possessed of blue-devils, as unclean spirits are seen to issue from the man. But to proceed
To obtain one of the greatest blessings that can be conferred, namely, that "° trade, commerce, and manufactures should be intro. duced and established amongst us, I would prostrate myself before my Maker, and implore that the channels of trade and commerce may be opened, that wealth, happiness, and prosperity may be introduced among us, and that they may he spread tht-ough the length and bxeadth of the land, that there may be employment for every man, plenty of food, and every social comfort introduced into the dwellings of the poor; then, indeed, will their hearts, bounding with gratitude, praise and adore their Maker and Provider."
Is it not the want of work that causes the want of food ? and the want of both breaks the spirit of a man, crushes his energies, hardens his heart, and disqualifies him from doing his duty to God and man.
How little does Mr. Bluett feel for the pinching poverty or necessities of the poor. Did he ever feel the want of bread ? Or can he tell me how or in what manner a poor man, his wife, and family subsist after being a week out of employment ? How they keep body and soul together is most surprising to me-how the labouring people are able to support nature. How true it is that " one half the people do not know how the other half live." It has been said that the labouring people are " half cleinmed," a term truly full of meaning ; yet how heartless must that man be who would prevent employment by excluding trade, commerce, and manufactures. " Our country population would be converted into labourers, and crowded into cottages obnoxious to the proprietors, and who, then, would be in the country ?" Did any man ever emit such ignorance ? It is really too contemptible to reply to. But to carry absurdity if possible beyond its climax, he asserts that " a few avaricious speculators would rapidly amass wealth, and buy up your land. And would this (he asks) produce happiness amongst the people ?" It would be amusing to discover what a capitalist could speculate in, in the Isle of Man. If Mr. Bluett could point out what great manufactory could be established here to advantage, and also what could be deposited here so as to form the Island into an emporium for trade be would do a world of service to his adopted country; but be only displays his profound ignorance of all commercial pursuits, inasmuch as we cannot import a single hogshead of sugar, or a single puncheon of rum direct from the West Indies, or a chest of tea, or a bag of colFeo from the Fast Indies; whilst linen, woollen, silk, and glass manufactures are strictly prohibited from being imported into, or exported from the Isle of Man, from or to any foreign country whatever ; whilst the whole of our foreign exportations, as appears from the returns moved for by Dr. Bowring, and presented to the House of Commons for ten years together, amount to C00 tons of potatoes and 12 pigs'_ Trade, commerce, and manufactures it is absurd to talk of, we have none-whilst our importations exceed our exportations in value by £200,000 per annum. Such a country can scarcely be said to prosper, and such a state of trade is fearful to contemplate, and ought to be investigated.
But oh ! these "rich men will buy up your land." Does Mr. Bluett mean to say, that because wealthy men come to the Island the present owners of the soil must necessarily sell it ? This I call chopping logic with a vengeance, and is a foul slander upon our landed proprietors. Yet, should it so happen that a few estates should be offered for sale,. is it not the interest of the proprietors to sell in the best market ? " Englishmen buy up your land !" Thank goodness we have such customers in view, to whom every inducement ought to. be held out to come into our market. Again, let me ask Mr. Bluett what would the value of land and all other property in the Isle of Mail be, were it not for British capitalists ? Does he fancy, that because they have money, they will invest it without a fair return ?How absurd such reasoning; but let Mr. Bluett deny it if he can, that we would have an abundant supply of British capital at 4 per cent. interest, or less, were it not for the Scandinavian law of registra-. tion of Mortgage Deeds. Here is a wide and open door for the perpetration of fraud, most fearful to contemplate, inasmuch as a man may mortgage his estate to-day, and the very next day effect a similar one, for the full value of his property, and which deed comes to be recorded when the first one appears also, and so the second mortgagee is actually defrauded out of his money. How long will the House of Keys keep this door open, to the exclusions of British capital from our country, at reduced rates of interest ? Can Mr. Bluett defend, or in any way justify such an order of things, or the House who permits its endurance, and continues to keep this door open while their own remains shut. Yet fur the honour of my country, fraud has seldom been committed, but it may.
Another relic of barbarism is the " Insolvent Debtor's Act," or rather an Act of Pains and Penalties; and if ever an Act tended to make man a villain and a dishonest man, this is the Act. If a man, no matter bow respectable, gets embarrassed in his affairs, his property is seized, squandered among lawyers and coroners-he is called villain, scoundrel-he is detached from his estate-his interests, and influence, and business connectionsdestroyed-he is thrown into prison, and both himself and his family actually left to starve. He is left to make out his schedule, notice his creditors, and pass the Courts in the best way and manner he can; and without anvassistance from his books. Look at the operation of this law, so very cruel, barbarous, and oppressive th at there is not a living instance in existence of a Manxman having taken the benefit of the Insolvent Debtor's Act, and of having again prospered in the world by his own industry.Here is a startling fact, the efl'ect of cruel, barbarous, and oppressive laws ; and it is a further fact, that there are scores of individuals now daily walking the streets who have not the moral courage to pass such a fiery ordeal, it being a process calculated solely to degrade the unfortunate, to gratify the most vindictive feelings, and to make callous the best emotions of the heart. Now the question is, how would this Act operate in Great Britain, and how long would the British people or their Representatives permit such a wicked and barbarous Act to disgrace their Statute Book ? Let the professed Representatives of the poor oppressed Manxman answer me these simple questions.
" Let pretty well alone," and " let well alone," are the cuckoo notes of parties who are opposed to substantial improvements, and the charge that you are " a most miserable, enslaved, wretched, and oppressed- people," are ill applied to the party who have effected a great good, and who are labouring to raise my countrymen from ignorance and serfdom, to be freemen and citizens, but are strictly applicable to that party who would stop trade and manufactures from a poor, illfed, ill-paid, ill-clad, degraded people.
" The party who are seeking to destroy your Constitution have long had possession of the public press, and persons opposed to their views have been stigmatized with the bitterest and most malignant enmity; and if pursued and encouraged, the morality, peace, and happiness of the Island are gone for ever, and the authorities that be brought into contempt." Such foul charges come with very bad grace from the very man whom the press has honoured almost more than any other man. But should the press fall into Mr. Bluett's hands, we have in his own productions a beautiful specimen of the manner in which that mighty engine would be perverted to the degradation of
Her Majesty's subjects. It would, however, be much more to Mr. Bluett's credit, did he seek to raise the character and improve the tone of this palladium of our rights and sheet anchor of our liberties, than to embark in a crusade for its destruction. Let me ask Mr, Bluett if he has not himself made the press the medium of any of his own private strictures upon any person whatever ?
Our author now observes-" It remains to consider whether our present Constitution be adequate to all our reasonable wants ; and would it not be a more wise and prudent course to endeavour to improve its usefulness, than run the risk of destroying it ?"
That it has not complied with oar reasonable wants and wishes, I have shown, as in the case of the petition for a police establishment, and will point out another case, in which Mr. Bluett himself was personally interested. About three years ago, the Committee of the House of Industry, headed by the Rev. Dr. Carpenter, finding they could not raise funds adequate for the support of that Institution, agreed to petition the House of Keys to pass an Act to levy a small rate to support the poor. The drawing out and presentation of this reasonable Bill was entrusted to J. C. B. But mark the result-it was rejected-it met exactly the same fate as other applications to the same quarter.
A similar petition was presented to the House of Keys, from the inhabitants of the town of Douglas and its vicinity, most numerously and respectably signed, praying that the spirit dealers might be allowed to retail spirits in quantities less than a pint, but not to be drank upon the premises. It was ably advocated before the House by Mr. Matthews, but it met the fate of all the others. Talk no more, therefore, of the wants and wishes of the people being complied with-it is all a " mockery and delusion," and the House by such conduct draws upon itself swift destruction. Yes ! the House of Keys now stand arraigned before the tribunal o£ their country ; by that tribunal they will be judged, and by the decision of that tribunal they will either stand or fall-be either acquitted or condemned, as the merits of the case will bear.
View the conduct of the House of Keys also as regards the Medical Bill. Two of the members of the House happen to be medical men, they actually introduce a Bill to protect the profession, but with such provisions as to awaken the indignation of an insulted people, who have almost unanimously entered their protest against the same, and it is withdrawn.
The Marriage Bill also is another specimen of the intolerance of the House of Keys; a few Dissenting 'ministers meet, and write to the Secretary of State informing him of what is in progress, who writes to the Executive here, to direct that our Legislature should frame their Acts more in accordance with English legislation; and this Bill is also under revision.
And because John Kelly, Esq., High Bailiff of Castletown, ,writes and publishes an anonymous address to Manxmen, dates it Jurby, and circulates it through the country, as from the Lieutenant Governor-he is detected, and having been severely but justly lampooned by the public prints for so doing, this very Mr. Kelly has the boldness to introduce a Bill to the House of Keys to amend the Law of Libel ! " Man, vain man, would be wise, though he be born like the wild asses' colt."
And does not all this require some improvement? " Oh, yes !" says Mr. Bluett, " I believe there is room for improvement," and " I am fully persuaded that may as well be accomplished by the present House, as by an Elective House of Keys; and never was a better form of Government framed for the wants of a small community than that of the Isle of Man." Here is cold and hot at the same breath.
" If a law be required for any general or local purpose, and the Legislature be slow, petition the Governor, who will order parties to be heard before the bar of the Tynwald Court, and the matter will be finally taken into consideration." When did such a case occur ?
Let the time be stated by Mr. Bluett. Let the truth be stated. If the members of the Keys represent us, why employ counsel ? Oh Mr. Bluett, how indefensible are your strongholds for the defence of such a House.
With respect to the High Road Accounts, the Act positively demands that they should be published once a year; how many years is it since they were published ? and will or can Mr. Bluett defend such an omission of duty ? and is it not strictly correct to lay this charge at their door ? Why should the public have even to ask for the accounts to be published ? and what would Englishmen say, if the revenues of the United Kingdom were. withheld one quarter publishing ? Would not Ministers be hurled from office, and from power, by an indignant people ?
Again-" Against every rude attempt made upon your House of Keys, support them." low who makes " rude attempts upon our House of Keys ?" Rude and vile must that man be who asserts such sentiments, and lays them upon those who wish to support the House in purity, integrity, and efficiency, hut in no other way.
I have read the correspondence of the House of Keys on the important matters connected with the Fiscal Bill ; and although their exertions were made even at the eleventh hour, I yet tender them my hest thanks for what they did. A t the same time, I must state, that it is to Dr. Bowring and the Fiscal Committee that we are mainly indebted for the liberal measures dispensed towards us hy Her Majesty's Government. It is an undoubted fact, that the recent measures were in agitation hy them fully three years ago; a change was then pressed upon Mr. Gladstone by Dr. Bowring, but he refused to do anything, as the Legislature here was opposed to a change ; hut the Dr. urged the matter, when Government promised to take the subject into consideration; and on the arrival of Dr. Bowring at London, after his first visit to the Island in September, 1843, having during such visit consulted with the leading tradesmen of the Island, and collected their sentiments, he was invited hy Mr. Gladstone and other gentlemen connected with Her Majesty's Government, to discuss and advise on the then proposition of the Board of Trade relative to alterations in the Fiscal Laws of the Island, the result of which was the Government considered, in accordance with the suggestion of Dr. Bowring, that no augmentation in the revenue should be sanctioned without conferring corresponding benefits on the people of the Island; and thereupon a communication was made to the Collector of Customs, Douglas, to ascertain how any increase of revenue over that collected hy the old system could be disposed of. It is understood our respected Collector, Mr. Cassells, suggested various modes beneficial to the interests of the Island ; but it was finally arranged that an equal amount of advantage could, as proposed by Dr. Bowring, be conferred on the people by small duties, in preference to any considerable increase in the revenue, however expended. And it is to the urgent and zealous application upon the score of humanity, of Dr. Bowring and our delegates, we are solely indebted for the total abolition of the Harbour Dues ; and to prove this fact, our delegates submitted to a small additional duty of 6d. per gallon on both brandy and gin to secure this boon. To their zeal also we are indebted for a double supply of brandy and gin, as well as 20,000 gallons more of rum,,thanthe House of Keys asked for. And it is a fact that the first ,scale of duties was drawn up and sent down to the Governor in March, 1844, hy whom it was submitted to.the House of Keys, who discussed that important measure with closed doors, from an apprehension that their plans would be marred hy being known. Now, what would the British nation say if the House of Commons sat with closed doors -when discussing the most important matters of trade and commerce ?
Dr. Bowring and our delegates did also everything it was possible for men to do ; their attention, zeal, and labours were unremit.ting-; and to the intelligent and active delegates who went to London, (Messrs,. R. Duff, S. S. Rogers, and Garrett,) upon the subject, our gratitude is due also. We can never sufficiently thank them ; for every ,.clause and item of the Bill were gone through clause by clause, one ~by one, and duly and fully considered by them. And Mr. Bluett states what is palpably false when he says, "If Dr. Bowring had not been near the place, and the section of the trade who chose to com-municate with him had entirely held their peace, the whole matter ,would have been accomplished just as well without them."
Mr. Bluett is ignorant of the matter. Had it not been or our deputation, the whole Act would have been a mass of absurdity, hence the necessity of an interview with Her Majesty's Ministers. I will only instance one case in point. The Warehousing Act of the Uni,ted Kingdom contained a clause prohibiting all foreign goods ,from being shipped out of bond to the Isle of Man, unless the English duties were first paid thereon, or upon licences from the Commis-sioners of Customs. Now this privilege was taken off us at the moment the Duke of Athol sold the Island, and our delegates alone laid claim to the restoration of this old privilege, and which they successfully obtained for us, hut not until the country had been robbed by the blindness and ignorance of .the House of Keys, to the tune of about £50,000. Bonded goods are now free to us. We have tasted the " buflaloe," as it is called-a boon to the poor. Permit me to ask Mr. Bluett, did our House of Keys ask for the corn and flour to be given back to the poor Manxman as his ancient right ? also to have foreign sugar allowed, as formerly ? No ! those were boons too great to get restored. Where is Mr. Bluett's veracity ? And our Keys were not fully equal to the emergency of the case, inasmuch as no commercial people would have left their interests in the hands of a stanger alone. Why did not the House of Keys send a deputation to London? The people alone took their own course; they went and effected their own business-was not' that the proper course ?
" Let the sense of the country be taken."-It has been taken, and the response is this----:" Set your House in order--its days are numbered-it is high time to change them--the full time is come we must have an elected House of Keys."
Mr. Bluett says " Every stranger who visited our shores used to admire and envy our peace and happiness:" But who destroyed the peace and happiness of those who visited our shores ? who drove them our country ?-answer-the House of Keys, and the abominable, law of distinction between native and stranger.
" If the people who represent the taxable property of the place desire a change, I am persuaded there is not a member of the House of Keys who would not most readily resign his office." Thank you, Mr. Bluett. After seventeen pages of absurdity, and with all the sinews of your information, you coincide with our views at once, and you have fully answered our expectations. " This is the consummation devoutly to be wished;" and as the mouth-piece of the House of Keys, I -doubt not your sincerity in this opinion. But where is your consistency ?
" Multitudes have signed the Reform petition from excited feelings." " Here again is a shameful imputation upon the judgments of the very people lie seeks to lead into the paths of error.
But to consummate the vanity and assurance of our author, he states,- I have done my duty as a citizen." Mr. Bluett a citizen of the Isle of Man ! Permit me to assure him that he is no more a citizen of the Isle of Man than I am of the moon. When and where was he made a citizen ? Let him answer, and not shirk the question. Is he not,' in the 'fullest, the broadest, and most strict legal sense of the word, " an alien," yes, " a.stranger;" in the Isle of Man ? How dare he, therefore, assert that he is a citizen of the Isle of Man ? Is not this exactly upon a par with all his assertions ? Where is the veracity of such an author ? Surely he must have been taking lunar observations when he made such an assertion. No doubt he has taken many liberties with the longitude, but I have no objection to give him what he stands much in need of-a great latitude in all that been considered requisite in reason,intellect, and common sense.
Upon this subject, permit me to refer to the remarks of that distinguished writer and divine, the Rev. Dr. Adam Clarke, upon the 22d chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, when Paul pleaded his, freedom and citizenship as a Roman, in bar of his punishment by the chief captain of the guard, the Rev. Divine observes,, " In a thousand circumstances, gratitude to God, and duty to -man will_ oblige us to insistupon our civil privileges (which ought to be esteemed as the gifts of God) and a generous concern for those who may come after, should engage us to labour to transmit them to posterity IMPROVED rather than IMPAIRED." This should be an article in the creed of every true Briton.
But to crown his conduct as a faithless historian, we have to observe, that he promised he would show from authority that the celebrated declaration of His Grace the Duke of Athol, that tho House of Keys were no more the Representatives of the people of the Isle of Man, than they were of the inhabitants of Peru, was not based upon fact.
Now, I have waited, and waded through both, pamphlets to sec;, as Mr, Bluett asserts, that the words were uttered at a period of excitement, and were in opposition to all His Grace's connexions with the Keys. This subject Mr. Bluett promised to revert to in his Second Letter, but not one word is said upon the subject-what accommodating consciences these lawyers have. Here, then, is a faithless historian. But what says His Grace of Athol ?-" If your statements be true, then indeed am I unworthy of the honours of my Sovereign, which I have worn for upwards of fifty years ;. but if they be false, what are you ?"
Yea; even the clemency exercised by His Grace in the trial of Deemster Gawne, before the Council, when he evinced the greatest consideration for the feelings of the Deemster and his family, and when the evidence was so overwhelming, so damning, as to make the result inevitable, the Deemster withdrew from the Court, John Caesar Gelling, as the Deemster's friend, stood it out to the last; yet even this act of forbearance was made a cause of complaint to the House of Commons against His Grace the Duke of Athol, although the trial was ordered to be heard by the Searetary of State before the Council. The petition to the House of Commons was drawn up by the then Secretary of the Keys, a disappointed, disaffected, indolent man ; and a doubt cannot exist but that the House of Keys treated His Grace with studied insult and contempt.
I come now to close my too tedious subject ; but my duty demands my views should be stated.. My own private opinions are, that the first act of a chosen Representative House of Keys would be to lay claim to and demand the whole of our Surplus Revenue. Mr. Bluett says distinctly it is there for us, we only want to be pat into a position to claim it.- It should then be expended in enlarging and building our harbours-in making and improving our high-ways and byeways-in establishing good municipal government-in promoting parochial education-supporting our charitable institutions-in having public walks public gardens, public baths, public wash-houses, mechanical, literary, and philosophical Institutions-agriculture, trade, commerce,. and manufactures, together with the bonded system in its fullest extent be established amongst its, that our bleak hills may be adorned in sylvan beauty, and crowned with verdure-our valleys stand thick with corn ; that " the solitary place may be glad for them" " the desert rejoice and blossom as the rose ;" that places of worship may be extended, and every man may sit down under his own vine and fig tree ; that there may be plenty of work and plenty of food for man and beast; that there may be no complaining in our land ; that peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion and piety may be established amongst us to all generations. Then bow beautiful upon the mountains will the feet of those be wbo bring glad tidings to little " Vannin," where "we shall dwell in safety under the shadow of the Almighty," and become °` the joy of the whole earth, and the praise of many generations."
In conclusion I have only to say, that I feel I have done my necessary, bounden duty (but imperfectly) to my country;, and my prayer to my Maker is, " Let thy work. appear, unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children."
The follies and indiscretions of Mr. Bluett's youth have been many and great; but "the greater the sinner the greater the saint;" he should, however, be made to eat one paragraph, where, in writing to Miss Ritchie, he says, "I may be snapped at, but depend upon it I shall not be snapped up, for all the women I have seen are a shade uglier than sin itself; besides I am bit already." Whereas, my fair countrywomen are as handsome, beautiful, and lovely as the fair sex of any other part of Her Majesty's dominions, or of God's creation ;: but should any of my readers wish to see sin truly personified, they may see it, by entering our Court of Chancery, and viewing Mr.. Bluett, in a blue gown and a wig !
" Playing such fantastic tricks before high heaven,
As make the angels weep;"
It may, perhaps, be somewhat interesting to many of the present inhabitants of the Isle of Man to know who and what Mr. John Courtney Bluett was, who has taken so prominent a part to support the atrocious system which has so long cursed the Island, and who has been so zealously endeavouring to justify the conduct of the present Legislative body. To enable them to discover whether or not there may have been certain CONSIDERATIONS why he should have so acted, I take leave to lay before the public a short account of his early life.
About 24 years ago, I remember the whole Isle of Man was " frighted from its propriety," our Courts of Law rung with the suit of Janette Caroline Ritchie versus J. C. Bluett, being an action for Breach of Promise of Marriage by the latter towards the former; and as the trial now lies before me, a few extracts may not be uninteresting to the reader.
John Courtney Bluett was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, not of prepossessing features ; Caroline Ritchie was a young lady more pretty than handsome; she was of a respectable family; her father was a Captain in the East India Company's Naval Service; but dying bequeathed his daughter £200 in cash, and an annuity of £30 per annum, and left her under the guardianship of a Mr. Hazard, who studied in no little degree to perfect the education of his ward. Courtney Bluett, by being brought up before and behind the scenes of a theatre, and bred to a seafaring life, from his uncle Buckland's statement appears to have been " a young man of a most fickle disposition; was deeply in love with a young lady in Canada; violently smitten with a second; and solemnly engaged to Miss Ritchie, to whom he was long passionately and ardently attached." He won her affections more by his assiduities than his beauties of countenance, Her education, especially the musical part thereof, was of serions consideration to her friends and lover ; and after consultations it was finally decided that Janette's musical education should be perfected in Dublin. The last interview between her and Courtney was deeply disc tressiug and heartrending in the extreme-in one. of his letters he says, " We parted-my heart sunk within me-I returned to Mrs. Walton's-the very sight of it made me worse. I repaired to the theatre -sat alone in my brother's box-rny eyes fixed on the stage-I saw nothing a deadly weight pressed heavily on my heart-the sensation was dreadfully oppressive-on crossing the back of the stage to go home, I lost all sight and sense, and fell to the ground. I was long before I recovered, and found myself in the Green Room; in falling I cut my face dreadfully, and looked a complete fright."
Volumes of correspondence subsequently took place, and continued for about two years, breathing the purest, the strongest, and most constant affection; but it so appeared that our gay Lothario was seen by Mrs. Walton, Miss Ritchie's friend, at the theatre with a lady of the town, which circumstance was communicated to Miss R. in Dublin. The feelings of the young lady may be easily imagined she strongly expressed her feelings to him upon his conduct. However, the affair was finally waved,-yet, notwithstanding his protestations of love and constancy, shortly after his arrival in the Isle of Man he married a Miss White, an Irish lady.
Miss Ritchie and her friends soon afterwards arrived here, and at once sued out an action for damages for Breach of Promise of Marriage. The matter was tried before a Special Jury at Common Law, and a verdict returned in favour of Miss Ritchie, with £500 damages. Defendant appealed from this judgment to the House of Keys, where he pleaded his own cause, and so powerful, so effectual, and so successful was his appeal, that the House of Keys reduced the damages from £500 to £50-so that in every point of honour, Mr. Bluett ought to defend a body who so effectually served him.
Subsequently our hero was articled as clerk to the Secretary of the Keys, Mr. Llewellyn, who was pleased to say that " he ought to have been brought up a lawyer instead of a sailor."
Let us proceed to a few extracts from the speech of the plaintiff's counsel before the House of Keys on the appeal case. Mr. Roper says :
" Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Keys, you have had a specimen of the powers of Mr. Bluett's fancy ; for his entire case is bottomed upon nothing but fancy-not supported by any kind of evidence."
In allusion to the verdict given by the Common Law jury against Mr. Bluett, Mr. Roper says.
" That verdict, Gentlemen, was found by a Jury of fair, unprejudiced men, unacquainted with the parties, and abstracted from every consideration but the duties they had to perform ; it was found by that Jury, under the -charge, with the approbation of the Judge who tried the cause with a patience that may have been equalled, but never surpassed ; and I am persuaded that you will seriously consider this case before you shake a verdict so found, and so approved by the public as this has been. I offered my judgment to the Jury below with diffidence, and the learned Deemster perfectly agreed with me, that the defendant never intended to marry my client, and that his object in sending her to Ireland was in order to put off the intended marriage. Mr. Bluett assigns the rancorous hatred of my client to his family as the cause of his base desertion of her, but. from his letter of Nov. 1820 you cannot have a doubt of what his mother was, and that she was doing all in her power to sow dissentions between them. I did, and do still assert that Mr. Bluett engaged Miss Ritchie in par-ties and spent her money in going to those parties, which has been supported by the evidence of two witnesses swearing to the fact of the young woman giving her purse at going out and receiving it on her return. Why was it so taken out if it was not to be opened ?"
[The following extract of a letter from Miss Ritchie to Mr Bluett was read] :
" My family are totally ignorant of your intentions; for worlds I would not have there acquainted with the conduct you pretend to adopt, which should you persist in, I must form an idea that you hoped your conduct would drive me to marry the first man that asked me." Mr. Roper goes on to say :
"I said nothing of Foster, but it is clear that he was wild and generous, yet the disinterested friend of the defendant, who was half his servant and half his companions that he sponged upon him, so
long as' he had anything to give him; that be received clothes from him, is sworn by Mrs. Walton, and you have all of you seen one of ,the coats, for it is remarkable enough! it does indeed look like a livery ! it is a green coat with large white buttons, that has been so very conspicuous in this Island that it cannot have escaped your observation. Miss Ritchie arrived in the Island in December, 1821, and brought her action, and she was advised by Mr. Geneste to let him remain in prison. The bail was reduced to £350, and I advised that his father-in-law's bail should be taken; and from the moment he obtained his liberty he went to work to vilify my client's character by circulating everything malice could invent, privately against her. He procrastinated the cause six months, all which time he and his associates were privately and meanly traducing my client. A compromise of the suit was sought for by Capt. Abbott, and satisfied that it was a losing game to Miss Ritchie, I agreed to take £25 in part payment of costs, subject to Mr. Hazard's approval, which he acceded to, and I informed Capt. Abbott so. Judge, gentlemen, my surprise when I was told that Mr. Bluett had told Capt. Abbott that the tables were turned, for he could prove that Miss Ritchie had acted with the most improper levity, and admitted a man old enough to be her father to most indecent familiarities, that they had been repeatedly drunk together, with a variety of false and scandalous assertions; but he (Mr. Bluett) would allow Miss Ritchie to withdraw her suit and pay her own costs, if she would deliver up some trinkets he gave her during their courtship. This infamous threat Miss Ritchie treated with the scorn it deserved. But I will say, and that without fear of a shade of evidence being brought to contradict me, that his letters which I have already referred to, prove him the fancy man of a prostitute, and his deceit and falsehood to my client. He has told you that Miss Ritchie did not let him out of prison but upon double security. I produce Mr. White's bond to prove his falsehood.
"Gentlemen, I have now done; I thank you for the patience with which I have been heard, and beg your attention to the facts.If after these facts you shake the verdict of the Jury, you must shake it by FALSEHOOD, and that asserted by an interested man, who, if' the case I have proved be true, is unworthy of credit in any case."
The following further extracts from the Correspondence I have taken the liberty of quoting, may tend to show in a still stronger light the character of the man who has voluntarily buckled on his armour in defence of our Irresponsible Legislators, and antiquated institutions :
" I expect you will have quite enough to do every day except Sunday, which I have no doubt will be left perfectly at your own disposal; and the mention of it leads me to speak of something that has preyed much upon my mind: we are, my dearest Janette, two children of Fortune-I think mutually attached to each other, but so circumstanced, that our union depends, entirely depends, on our future success in the world ; ought we not, then, to implore the assistance of that all gracious Providence in whose hands our fate is balanced, and whose all-searching eye must have perceived our neglect of attending the places of his worship-the church ; we were neither of us so negligent till each had seen the other, and perhaps our separation is a punishment. Did not I consider you as a girl of too good sense, I should fear to write in this strain, lest you should turn it into ridicule ; but I am sure you will not confound it with the hypocritical cant of Methodists, but take it, as it really is, for the overflowing of a heart devoted to your happiness; I am sure, therefore, you will each Sunday attend divine service, and pray for mine, as I will pray for your's; for our bliss here and hereafter depends on an allusive, all-powerful and all-seeing God, who has power to punish as well as to reward."
"June 19th, 1820.
" Beloved and much injured Janette,
" If you, supported by every feeling of conscious innocence, felt a difficulty in commencing a letter to me, how much more arduous must my task be, when compelled to acknowledge myself in part guilty of the charges your aunt has so inconsiderately made known to you; bid I will not suffer you for another moment to suppose it possible the disgustingly insulting assertions in her letter could be true : surely, Janette, surely you could not for a moment believe that I could be so sunk, so degraded, so lost to every sense of decency, as to submit to be supported by such a creature. Would to heaven I could so easily clear myself from all knowledge of her, and avoid this unpleasant explanation, so unfit for female oars, and which may shock you; but I must say (and pardon me if I offend) the indelicate, abrupt, unfeeling manner in which your aunt wrote to you on the subject, compels me to offer the best explanation in my power : had she suffered your brother to adopt the course he intended, you would have been spared the pain of knowing my errors, and I the shame of an explanation that must be disgusting to you, as it is painful to me. Divided between the fear of wounding your delicacy by the disclosure, and the dread lest you should think me more culpable than I am, I hasten in as few words as possible to give yon an ample detail of my whole connexion with her :- It is customary to give a certain number of that wretched class of females, free admission to the theatre; frequently with William, I was known to be his brotber, and when be took Astley's theatre, this woman, having heard me speak French to my brother, accosted me in that language, to request I would mention her name, which she gave me on a card, and ask my brother to put her on the free list; he did so, and the instant emboldened by this, she spoke to me frequently after: I imprudently listened-yielded to her repeated solicitations, and, finally visited her. This delusion lasted a fortnight, when on my going to Croyden, I became ashamed of an intercourse so disreputable to me, so unjust to you, and hastened to break it off; my visits became less frequent, and finally ceased altogether ; and the female, as I am informed by a friend, is lately gone abroad, and now in Brussels; but of this I am not certain, nor- is it worth my while to inquire. Here, then, let me close this offensive detail, the indelicacy of writing which to a young and innocent girl, makes the blush for myself. When, therefore, you read it, do not despise me for it; for believe me, it cost me infinite pain. Your aunt must have deceived herself, when she says she saw me with her at Astley's within the last month : I have been but twice there, once with my rnotber, once alone ; but not all I can say would convince her to the contrary; for though to her I owe no explanation, yet im-mediately after I received your letter, (9 o'clock, Saturday morning) I hastened to call upon her, and much regret I did so ; 'twas but to be still more grossly insulted, by hearing her repeat that she believed every word she bad uttered in her letter, to be perfectly true, since she had her information from undoubted authority; which, however, she refused to give up to me. My interview was too disagreeable for me to wish to prolong; it, Mr. Hazard was net at home, and I called again upon him, happily without seeing Mrs. W. ; how different, how widely different, was their conduct ; he was all mildness and urbanity. But whatever might be my feelings on your aunt's conduct, it was evidently caused by the most unbounded affection for you; and oil that score I could pardon every other insinuation in the letter, but the disgusting one of my being the "fancy man" of an abandoned prostitute-dependant on her bounty~subsisting on her charity;'tis too gross, too bitterly insulting, to be borne with patience ; shame, shame on her unfeeling indelicacy in making such a disclosure. Indignation almost gives way to pity, at the easy credulity of a woman who could suffer all she had herself observed in me, to be in an instant overturned by some prying, impertinent, unmanly coward, who, knowing a little, invented a great deal more, to give color and consequence to his information. Rapidly, indeed, must I have fallen, could I in so short a time have become the abject thing she makes me ; but enough of this : the other parts of the letter are easily set aside, as far as concerns myself. I have never had more than my half-pay to live upon, anti I owe about £35 in the world; so much for my extravagance. On my friend's account more heavily, but that I know him to be in rank and fortune as far above her contemptible informer, as he is in honour and principle : fortunately you are on the very spot to discover the truth of my assertion. My friend, Henry Foster, a Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, is son of the late Buck Foster, alias Paris Jack, names well known in Ireland : the Right Hon. John Foster, late Speaker of the Irish Parliament; Leslie Foster, and Mat Fortescue, of Stevens Town, are his relations; Plunket married his sister : his mother and sisters live at Miles Town ; all people of note. Either this is true, or I have been deceived ; and letters which I have seen from almost all the parties, must have been forged I supposeYour aunt does well to conceal the name of her informer. I would not have Foster to see her letter for worlds. Your aunt seems bent upon doing every thing in her power to prevent your ever thinking any more of me. Would to heaven you could indeed entirely forget me, for your own peace and happiness sake; but much as I wish it on that account, it must not be ,at the expense of my own character.Guilty of indiscretion such as many young men bave been before me, I confess I have, been, nor do I attempt to vindicate; but I have been still more grossly calumniated, and my only hope is, that I may one one day discover the kind friend who has done it: but whatever may have been my conduct, my affection for you has ever been the same. Such an occurrence with such a woman, ought never to have been made known to yon; all professions, however, to that effect are rendered abortive; yet one more remark, and I have done : the unlimited confidence with which I have ever opened my heart to you on every subject, whether of consequence or not, has given you the power once more with justice to reproach me; unworthy, therefore, of confidence as I must appear to you, were I to comply with your request of burning your letters, a lurking doubt might remain in your mind as to whether I had done so or not; to save you from every possible chance of suffering the least uneasiness on that account, I have adopted a different course: in a sealed packet bearing my name only, I have enclosed every scrap of your hand-writing in my possession; these I have entrusted to the unimpeachable honor of Mr. Hazard, (I should except your last, which I must keep on account of your aunt's letter) who will deliver them to you. Your aunt was right, you have indeed a happy escape ; for wretched indeed is the present state of my family, and worse must follow; but this from me is unworthy of any credit deeply, deeply indeed, is that pride wounded, which once you noticed in me ; to be sunk so low as to be suspected of being supported by a prostitute, is a blow that almost unmanned me ; hard as I have struggled to place myself beyond the reach of slander. One thing yet remains : no letter of mine (this excepted) could raise a blush upon my cheek, and this your aunt has forced me to write ; do with them, therefore, as you please : I should prefer having them sent me, the expense of carriage is no object; but this will rest with yourself: and now my struggle is nearly over. Had I the most distant hope of being able to contribute to your happiness, I would compel Mrs. Walton to give up her author and allow me fairly to repel this infamous charge ; but hopeless are my prospects; 'wwere better you should think me the despicable being she would have you; 'twill lessen the pain of our separation, and help you to forget the unhappy Courtney, while your aunt can rejoice that you have so happily escaped a miserable union with such a monster. You can direct the packet either to Heston-, in Middlesex, or to my agents. If heaven kindly blesses you with all I wish, happy indeed will be your lot. To time and chance, for nothing else can do it, I leave the vindication of my character; and though scarce worth the enquiry, you may perhaps one day know how far I have erred, how far and deeply I have been wronged. I have long wished to leave this country ; I shall only wait for my letters, and complete my arrangements as soon after as possible. May heaven of its infinite mercy bless you for ever.
" COURTNEY.
" In looking over my letter, I perceive in one part I have said no letter of mine could raise a blush on my cheek: in a moment of irritation you might, perhaps, suppose I insinuated that your's were otherwise; I would guard against every chance of giving you pain,such is not my meaning. Could I give way to my feelings, you would be assured how carefully I have watched to avoid wounding y oar's as much as possible ; but I have controverted them throughout this letter, and must now give way.
" Monday, June 19th."
" Clyeen, September 20th, 1820.
" And now, dear girl, I am most anxious to hear how you get on, and what are your intentions ? I acknowledge this is my principal reason for writing to you, for I have nothing satisfactory to communicate concerning myself, but I suppose you would not write till you had heard from me. Whenever you do write, will you take the letter to Mrs. Barrymore, who promised to write, and my brother can get them both franked at the office. My only motive is to induce her to write, but if you do not like to go, never mind. Give my kindest remembrance to your aunt; Mr. Hazard, and your brother, &c., I hope they are all well. If it was even likely I should be snapt at ; depend upon it I shan't be snapped up for all the women I have seen are shades uglier than even sin itself-besides I am bit already. That you may be ever blessed and happy is the constant wish of your's, affectionately,
" COURTNEY.
`° More than half my pleasure is destroyed in this place, because I no longer take the same interest in it. While I looked forward to the house being our future residence, I had a stimulus to my exertions, in the hopes that you would one day witness my improvements, and participate in the benefits of my exertions; but my last visit to town has given a turn to my ideas. Our residence must, unquestionably, be nearer Douglas, and I wish sincerely I was at this present moment at liberty to choose one. I am more than ever confident that you could, by teaching music, make an addition to our income, which, considering the prices of things, would be considerable. As it is, however, I shall console myself by thinking of the future, and shall set on foot every enquiry likely to forward my favourite scheme of having your aunt and self over here. I am, of course, perfectly ignorant what your aunt's income may be, though I suppose it limited to a very small compass ; and as you expressed a wish to have her with you away from England, I think she might be much more comfortable with us, than having to undergo her daily exertions; her health is not the best in the world, and I am verv certain she undergoes more fatigue now than she is properly equal to; but time will do all things, and I dare say, by the spring, I shall know more about the place. I need not recommend to you, my beloved girl, to practice unceasingly."
" FROM MR. BUCKLAND BLUETT, DIRECTED TO HIS NEPHEW, "JOHN BLUETT, BUT ADDRESSED TO HIS WIFE, "July, 1821, " Madam,
" I beg leave to condole with you most sincerely, on the unfortunate connection you have just formed ; an event which I conceive could not possibly have taken place, if you bad been aware that the young man is only a half-pay Lieutenant, deeply in debt, fond of travelling (by land), without prospect of promotion, even if he liked his profession, and without the most distant chance of ever inheriting sixpence from his father or any other relation ; a young man of a most fickle disposition, who was deeply in love (or pretended to be so) with a young lady in Canada ; violently smitten with a second, and solemnly engaged to a third, by whom he is threatened with an action of damages for a breach of promise of marriage. Under all these circumstances, I cannot but lament that any young lady of respectability should have been so imposed upon, or prevailed on, to take so precipitate a step, and that so imprudent and dishonourable an act should have been committed by a relation of your humble servant,
" B. BLUETT.
" Mr. J. C. Bluett will, or will not, according to his own discretion, (if such a word may be found in his vocabulary) shew this letter to his wife ; but B. B. begs to decline all further correspondence on that or any other subject."
DECLARATION.
" JANETTA CAROLINE RITCHIE solemnly before God declares, that the evidence given on the trial between her and JOHN COURTNEY BLUETT, by William Hazard and Anne Charlotte Walton, was perfectly true and correct; that the said John Courtney Bluett was in the regular habit of taking her purse and using it as his own, as stated by the above witnesses; that the fifteen pounds mentioned in Mr. Hazard's evidence was by her demanded from him to give to the said .John Courtney Bluett; and she did give the same, with all the money she had, amounting to five or six pounds more, to the said John Courtney Bluett, to assist him in meeting a demand that caused him much uneasiness. And this she is ready to swear, if required."
Penrice & Wallace, Printers.
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