' BOSWELL.
[775] Lord Cockburn (_Life of Lord Jeffrey_, i. 74) describing the
representation of Scotland towards the close of last century, and in
fact till the Reform Bill of 1832, says:--'There were probably not above
1500 or 2000 county electors in all Scotland; a body not too large to be
held, hope included, in Government's hand. The election of either the
town or the county member was a matter of such utter indifference to the
people, that they often only knew of it by the ringing of a bell, or by
seeing it mentioned next day in a newspaper.'
[776] Six years later, when he was _Praeses_ of the Quarter-Sessions, he
carried up to London an address to be presented to the Prince of Wales.
'This,' he wrote, 'will add something to my _conspicuousness_. Will that
word do?' _Letters of Boswell_, p. 295.
[777] This part of this letter was written, as Johnson goes on to say, a
considerable time before the conclusion. The Coalition Ministry, which
was suddenly dismissed by the King on Dec. 19, was therefore still in
power. Among Boswell's 'friends' was Burke. See _ante_, p.
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