[Earl of Haddington; Reform Bill; sometime Lord Lieut. of Ireland] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed Haddington to unknown fellow-conspirator re. means of publicising his Protests against Reform Bill.

Four pages, 8vo, bifolium, some staining (see image) but all legible. Tomorrow morning you will receive in George Street from the Librarian of the House of Lords copies of my two Protests and of Lord Wynford's Protest on the 3rd Reading of the English Reform Bill. I wiosh my Protests to be sent to the Editor of the Standard & Lord Wynford has commissioned me to send his also. | Five of the Protests have already appeared in that Paper - which had expressed as I was informed a wish to have them & a readiness to publish them & any others that might be sent to the Editor. It is on this footing that these Protests must be sent. It must on no account appear - nor must a word be said to entitle the Editor to conclude - whatever he may suppose - that either Lord Wynford or I have anything to do with sending them. | They must be conveyed to the Editor to publish - if he shall think fit [phrase underlined] - and must be sent in consequence of his expressing a wish to have & a readiness to publish the Protests. If he does not think fit to publish them he may let it alone & retyurn them. They are not to be paid for as advertisements or otherwise. | If you are kind enough to undertake to forward them to the Paper - the Person who takes them may speak (or it may bewritten but I should think not with a name) in the following sense - that the Protests of Lords H & W are sent to the Standard by one who has reason to know that they are [correct?] in consequence of the readiness expressed by the Editor to make known to the Public the Protests aginst the BILL- - and in consequence of [several?] having already appeared. It might be as well to send them in time for tomorrows [sic] Evening Paper - or Mondays at furthest. I called in George Street today hoping to catch you before you left your office - but I was too late. I [beg?] if you have any objection to undertaking this office - that you will make no scruple of delivering it. | You will find that I could hardly send my Protests in my own name, | Believe me to be [...]. [POSTSCRIPT] They told me at the House of Lords that they were not sent from thence to the Papers. Their not having been sent long ago was very stupid. | I hope you will make Dr Coventry understand how absolutely inappropriate it was for me or any one else to [make?] any amendments in so difficult a matter at such a stage - without warning or preparation & in si=uch a House! [phrase underlined] It was quite out of the question. The thing must now work its own way - if possible to [correct?] them - as they shew themselves in the working of this elaborate & complicated & [??] machine; | Should thge Librarian not have sent them to your office in due time - perhaps you will send to him for them. | I wrote my name in my two Protests - it would be better to scratch that out. Note: Lord Haddington went on to vote against the Reform Bill in 1831, but later changed his mind and voted for it in 1832, possibly due to the political crises surrounding its passage. [Wikipedia]~180~AYTOGRAPH REFORM BILL HADDINGTON LIBRARIAN PARLIAMENT~ ~0~OL67~ ~ ~ ~ ~