In compliance with the Wishes of many of Lord Ebrington and Mr. Bastard's Friends, we here insert the Speeches, Addresses, Squibs, &c. which were published during the Contest between the Noble Lord and Mr. Bastard, in 1816. To the Gentlemen, Clergy, Yeomanry, & Freeholders, of the County of Devon. GENTLEMEN, The death of your late worthy member, Mr. Bastard, having made a vacancy in the representation of the county, I have been encouraged, by the partiality of some of my friends, to offer myself as candidate for the distinguished honor of succeeding him. Sensible as I am of the more than usually arduous. task which the present situation of the country imposes upon the representatives of the people, I do not presume to suppose myself fully qualified to its discharge. The only grounds upon which I can venture to found any pretension to your support, are an anxious wish to promote, to the best of my ability, on all occasions, the welfare of the county, and an honest and independent conduct in parliament so long as I have had a seat in it, Should I be so fortunate as to become the object of your choice, my gratitude for your kindness will afford the best pledge of my endeavours to deserve it, I have the honor to be, With the greatest respect, Your most obedient humble servant, April 23d, 1816. EBRINGTON, To the Gentlemen, Clergy, Yeomanry, & Freeholders, of the County of Devon. GENTLEMEN, The death of my respected uncle, who so long enjoyed the honor of your confidence, has occasioned a vacancy in the representation of this county. With the highest sentiments of respect I beg leave to offer myself to your notice. Should your good opinion countenance my ambition of being thought worthy to succeed him, you may rely on my zealous endeavours to emulate that firmness and independence which characterized his public life; nor shall any opportunity be omitted of evincing my strong attachment to the interests of the county of Devon. The recent loss of my relative, and the severe illness which afflicts my father, engage my immediate solicitude; and I trust will be an adequate apology for any delay in personal attentions. I have the honor to be, With the greatest respect, GENTLEMEN, Your devoted humble servant, EDMUND POLLEXFEN BASTARD. Sharpham, 23d April, 1816. Mr. Bastard's Committee-Room, New Buildings, Gandy-Street, Exeter. To the Gentlemen, Clergy, Yeomanry, & Freeholders, of the County of Devon. GENTLEMEN, A wish having been expressed by many Persons, that I should make a more explicit declaration of my political opinions than was contained in my first address. I conceive it a duty to those whom I aspire to the honor of representing, distinctly to state the line of public conduct on which I venture to found my pretensions to your support. If it is, at all times, the bounden duty of your representatives, jealously to watch over the liberties of the subject and the expences of the state, how much is that duty encreased at the present moment, by the unparalleled pressure of our taxation, and the almost universal distress of all classes. To relieve as much as possible that distress, by steadily promoting every proposition for the reduction of our expenditure and the saving of our resources, has been, and ever will be, the object of my unremitting endeavours. Upon these grounds, I have opposed to the utmost of my power the large peace establishment of the army, the uncalled-for increase of the salaries of public offices, and the attempt to continue the Income Tax, in violation, as I conceive, of the pledge given by the parliament to the country for its abolition on the return of peace. Upon the same grounds, I shall anxiously attend to every measure that may be suggested for the alleviation of those burdens under which the agricultural part of the community more particularly labors. Among these, as I conceive that the present system of the tithes affords one of the greatest obstructions to the improvement of land, I shall be most happy to support any practical arrangement upon fair and equitable terins for their commutation; assured as I am, that such an arrangement would be no less beneficial to the true interest of the clergy, who receive, than to those of the agriculturist, who pays them. Never having at any time solicited any place or pension under government, I feel no hesitation in declaring that should I be happy enough to obtain the honor of representing this county, I would not accept either now. I have the honor to be, with the greatest respect, GENTLEMEN, Your most obedient and faithful humble servant, To the Gentlemen, Clergy, Freemen, and Freeholders, of the County of Devon. GENTLEMEN, A report has been circulated, that I am unfavorable to the agitation of any question respecting an arrangement for the fair commutation of tithes. This insinuation I feel it due to myself to state is unfounded. If such a measure should be discussed in parliament, I pledge myself to consider it with an unbiassed and independent mind, and with a due attention to the true interests of the clergy and agriculturists of this important county. I have the honor to be, With the greatest respect, Your devoted humble servant, EDMUND POLLEXFEN BASTTARD, Committee-Room, Exeter, 26th April, 1816. To the worthy and independent Electors of the County of Devon. GENTLEMEN, I have just seen a hand-bill signed Edmund Pollexfen Bastard, which, like a tail-hound, comes with a strange sort of a declaration—that a report has been circulated that he is unfavourable to the agitation of any question respecting an arrangement for the fair commutation of tithes; and that IF such a measure should be discussed in parliament, he pledges himself to consider it with an unbiassed mind. What, gentlemen! we are to infer then that there are some questions respecting an arrangement for the fair commutation of tithes that he will not support! Here is a person, who has been (I know not how long) a member of the British Legislature, who tells us, IF such a measure should be discussed, he will consider of it: and so in this awful and momentous crisis, when we are weighed down by the public burdens, when the most wealthy and substantial stands trembling upon the brink of ruin, a member of the British Legislature candidly acknowledges, he has not yet turned his attention to a question which has so much occupied the mind of every other man in the kingdom; and that this is his pretension to represent the county of Devon. Gentlemen, we want no IFS: we must have an active, spirited man, who pledges himself, not that he will consider of the thing hereafter, IF another person brings it forward, but that he has already eonsidered it himself, and that he HE WILL DO IT. Now, gentlemen, shew your independence; if you lose the present opportunity, what man of worth will ever again subject himself to be rejected by you? I am, Gentlemen, With the truest regard for your interests, April 26, 1816. PATRIA CARA, CARIOR LIBERTAS. We have to deplore the loss of our old, our tried, our faithful representative; whose political career was unbiassed by party-uninfluenced by power. He, as I ventured to describe him to you when he last solicited your votes, "pursued the undeviating path of public virtue, neither worshiping the golden image of the treasury, nor turning aside to the lures of the voluptuous partisans of ser vility and corruption. The blandishments of Calypso could not entice him from his duty: his lips were not polluted by the Circean cup; and whilst danger |