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Leader (1850-1860), 15th January 1859, Edition 2 of 2, Page 4, 33nntt StrtElIigwte. ¦ ' ¦ ¦

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      T Hat Europe Is In A State Of Agitation,...

      favour , there have been several sp irited rehearsals of the popular version of the Rietorm Play . Lord Panmyre , Mr . Horsman , and Mr . Roebuck have been the leading " actors in these performances . The moral of their speeches was to curb the tongues of those who are loud in their demands for Reform . John Arthur Roebuck , indeed , went the length of combating the popular doctrine of everybody ' s inalienable ~ right to be represented in Parliament . His own views are that a very simple reform is-, all that is either wanted or that is likely to be obtained —the addition of about 120 members , to be

      distributed amongst the large towns , —Sheffield , with its 160 , 000 inhabitants , lor example , being cut in two , and each division having two members . The tone of Mr . Roebuck ' s speech predicates obstruction to the Bright battalion . Other meetings we had during the week , and also notice of a meeting to be held in Dublin on the 27 th of this month . The object of this proposed meeting is notable . A set of " considerations / ' drawn up by Lord Downshire , Lord George Hill , and Mr , Lennox Naper , are to be submitted to the meeting , the ultimate object being the formation of an association to obtain such amendments

      in the law as may appear from time to time necessary ; for the better protection of life and property in . Ireland . The noblemen and gentlemen at the head of this undertaking stand above mistrust , but their object appears upon the face of it extremely open to question , as implying a grave doubt of the fitness or willingness of the constituted authority to secure the ends mentioned . We shall , however , know more about the proposed movement after the meeting has taken place . At Birmingham , there has been a great

      demonstration on the subj ect of church-rates intended to counteract the impression made by a Birmingham deputation which lately waited upon Lord Derby and presented a memorial in favour of church-rates . In London we have a great meeting on the subject of a very different kind of grievance , namely that of the Coalwhippers . The men ask to be protected from , the publican middleman system under which they are now obliged to work , and they desire the establishment by law of an office where they would be employed and paid , and protected from the extortions and temptations to which the present system subjects them . ¦ ¦ .. '• .

      An important item of the week ' s news is the departure of the Prince of Wales to Rome . He is to travel incognito , under the charge of his governor , chaplain , and equerry , which will be comfortable news to those who dread the temptations of Popery . Before leaving England he presented colours to the lOOfh ( or Royal Canadian Regiment ) at Shorncliffe . The ceremony was interesting as being the . first at which he has exercised the power of his military rank . He made a brief but very good speech . He lias passed over to Brussels , and is being made much of at the Belgian Court .

      G8 The I/Ease R. [No. 460, January 15,18...

      G 8 THE I / EASE R . [ No . 460 , January 15 , 1859 .

      Nuptial Preparations.-—The Paris Corresp...

      Nuptial Preparations .- —The Paris correspondent of the Ind 4 ptnda . net Beige sayo;—• ' It is time to return to the marriage of Prince Napoleon with the daughter of the King of Sardinia . Herewith are some of the preparations that have been made for that solemnity : — 1 . There have just been ordered in the French manufactories seventy-five batteries of the Emperor cannon , ' perfectionise 4 according to the system already explained in the column ? of some journals . Ordinary cannon have also been ordered , as well as carbines and projectiles of all descriptions . Tho new cannon will not be distributed except in case of war , and the batteries will be placed in the arsenals , that the system may not be employed by foreign armies . 2 . The arms of tho chasseura tCpied are to be perfectioniscd in respect only to the projectile , and a little also in respect to precision in firing according to models given by M , Nessler , the successor of M . Minio * . 8 . The battalions of chasseurs on active service are to bo increased from 900 and 1000 men to 1850 . 5 . At Toulon they are collecting all the provisions necessary for a campaign , 6 . In tho offices of the War Department they are studying the plans for two camps . " Tub Orleans Family in Spain . —In a letter from Madrid , wo read : — ? ' Tho Oount do Paris reooivos manlfestationa of sympathy from all classes at Seville . At the theatre , in the street , anil indeed everywhere , ho is saluted with respect . On tho 29 th ult ,, the Dufco and Duchess do Montpensler gave a grand banquet in his honour , at which tho principal authorities of tho province and tho principal members of tho Seville aristocracy were present . " Prussian Anti-Bigotry . —The Government of tho Prince Regent certainly intends to open tho museums and public buildings on Sundays . The working classes of Berlin seem very gratified with tho result .

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      ¦ . — ¦ V : ¦ ¦ ¦.Political Roresiiadoav...

      ¦ . — ¦ v : ¦ ¦ ¦ . POLITICAL rORESIIADOAVINGS . Mr . TrrE , M . P . —The hon . gentleman , in an address to his constituents at Bath , said he was sometimes asked " ¦ Who wants . 'Reform- ?" . The answer to this question -was , M If nobody wants it , why is everybody bringing it forward ? " Nothing would have been more consistent in a Tory Government than to say , "No , we think some unimportant changes should be made in the lieform Bill , but as it was a final measure , we see no necessity for going on bringing in Reform -Bills ; we will attend to the business of the nation ; " but they did not say so . The Government had undertaken the Reform question , and it appeared to him that there was nothing in the antecedents of the two great leaders of the present

      party to make it inconsistent with their professions or their position . Mr . Tite then observed that Mr . Bright was attempting something that was really practicable . What his scheme was he could only comparatively conjecture . On the part of the Government not a single fragment had espaped as to what their measure would be . With , respect to the part which Mr . Bright had taken , perhaps it was well explained in what might be considered the manifesto of the Birmingham Reformers . It was sometimes complained that many of the small boroughs returned literary men to Parliament—for

      instance , that Midhurst returned Mr . Warren . But , on the other hand , Macaulay was returned by the great constituency of Edinburgh ; Sir Bulwer Lytton and Mr . Disraeli were county members , and Mr , Gladstone was the member for the University of Oxford . These gentlemen did not owe their seats to the small boroughs , but to their great merit and talent . He sincerely hoped that they would not only have a large measure of Reform , but an honest and sincere one ; that the Legislature would do that which was honest , abpveboard , and fair to all parties . Mr . Tite then referred to the question of the Ballots Every da 3 ' s experience , he said ,

      convinced him of the necessity for secret voting . Me . Roebuck , M . P ., and Mr . Hadfield , M . P . — The members for Sheffield met their constituents pri Thursday afternoon , and an exciting . scene took . place in the Town Hall , the Mayor presiding . The crowd was great , and Mr . Roebuck proceeded with some observations about the need of Reform , argued from the origin of political government . He was , however , interrupted by an outcry for adjournment to a larger building , and after in vain resisting such a demand , and finding he could not be heard , he left the platform . He consented , however , to resume his speech in the Temperance Hall , and the Mayor and the assembly met him and Mr . Hadfield in that building . Mr . Roebuck

      proceeded very frankly to state his convictions on the Reform question , and even to combat the views of those who think there is an inalienable right for every one to be represented . He particularly urged that such was the state of Europe that the Reform question would not mainly occupy the time of Parliament . I remember ( said the hon . gentleman ) during the last Reform agitation people said there would be a civil war . The whole country ¦ was aroused ; man , woman , and child could talk of nothing else . Now there is an apathy about Reform , and till you can persuade the House of Commons that it would be dangerous to resist , you cannot expect such a Reform aa I have propounded . Well , then , we must wait . Depend upon it that England at the present

      moment is better governed than any other part of the world . I don't core where that other part is , I am told to look nt America . Look at America , sir . Are there not 6 , 000 , 000 of slaves in America , and does not the declaration of independence of the republic state that all men are born free ? It should have said all white men . I say , away with the measure , talking to me about America ,. In England a man can say pretty well what he likes , and can do what he pleases , so long as ho docs not interfere with his neighbour . This is rational freedom . There is one thing which I hope for in a reformed Parliament . I moan economical government . But I don ' t think economy will come from 101 . householders ; since the Reform Bill * or the 10 / . householders voted , the expenditure has increased every year . Mr . Roebuck then spoke of bur foreign policy . He said our alliances ought to bo with freedom everywhere ,

      With Franco as a people let us » o on an alliance . She is a gallant and great nation , and has been a light to mankind as wo have been , but she has not sot an oxample of good government . Wo have Been constitutional government in France trodden out by the hard heel of an unblushing despot . Constitutional government has been put down , England has been insulted , and every possible attempt has been made by that despot to ally himself with the Powers of Europe , tyrannical as they are . I have no faith In a man who has perjury on hia lips , I rceolleot when at Cherbourg seeing the Emperor of the French visit the Queen of England . It was a jjroat . eight . I saw that man mount the stops which led to our noble Queen ' s vessel , and when I saw his perjured lipn upon her hallowed check my blood rushed to my heart to think of that holy and good creature being denied by the lips of a perjured despot . The sight which I then behold was a typo of

      England . She was in alliance with this despot—she , the great light of mankind , whose writers , philosophers , whose mechanics—every man of us—^ -have been working in the great cause of humanity . England is upon a pinnacle at whidh the world ' wonders—many admire and still niore envy . She is great because she is good . But ,, depend upon it , no alliance with foulness . can be made without foulness attaching to the ally . —Mr . Hadfield said one of the best signs of the times is the anxiety of the honest and industrious classes to be enfranchised ,, and that man is entitled to respect who , by honest means , obtains the power to vote . All men who contribute to the taxes ought to be enfranchised ; though from policy demand is made for household suffrage , and 1 advise you to adhere to it . In 1857 we imported to the value of 187 millions , and we exported 146 millions , the produce of the labour of

      our honest working classes . These were the results of the people's labour . Surely , these men are to be trusted . Surely their interests are the interests of the country . I will never while I live cease to urge their claims . Referring to the future , he said there never was a time of more hopeful prospects . The question now to be asked ( he said ) is , How can we pour on the people the blessings of cheapness and abundance ? Can we not have returns from India arid our colonies far greater than were ever known before ? The people of Manchester have issued a statement showing that we are paying for the slavegrowing cotton of America 10 , 000 , 000 / . a year more than its fair marketable value , and every ounce of that cotton might be raised in India . Let roads be made and the means of irrigation be provided , arid we could have 100 , 000 , 000 / . produce a year from India—and half that would regenerate India .

      Lord Pasmcbe . —At a meeting at Brechin , on Monday , his lordship made some remarks oh the Reform question . He said : — " We live in times when it appears that in politics we are to have large measures of Constitutional Reform when scarcely a voice in the country is raised in its favour ; but circumstances have so combined that it is impossible for any Government , whatever its political professions may be * to abstain from entering and embarking in a course of Parliamentary Reform . I have been accused of having lost some of that taste for Reform which I imbibed in early youth , and which for many years I have followed ; up ; but I can assure you that that representation is not founded on fact . So far as Reform is carried out on the

      principles of the Reform Bill of 1832 I am a determined Reformer . When I see schemes of Reform projected which strike at the very root of pur mixed constitution , when I see new organisations sketched out before me which are to do away with some branches of our conT stitution , or to give to one , at least , the supremacythen I confess I shall pause at that road to Reform , because 1 do not think it a safe one . If ever there was a measure from which a benefit accrued to the nation and glory accumulated on its head , it is that measure of Reform which was passed in the year 1832 . The very first act after the passing of the Reform Bill was to blot out from our country the disgrace of participation in the

      trade of negro slavery . The next act of Reform was the Municipal Act . There are many people who hud no vote before , and who have a voice now , and they may go on in the spirit of that bUi and get a further voice when Parliament chooses to grant it . I assure you that free-trade is the result of the Reform Bill of 1802 , and numerous other advantages . I shall conclude by saying that , on the subject of a Reform Bill , so far as the intelligence of the people warrant me in going , so far will I go . I would do everything to forward a measure of Reform on this basis ; but I would do everything openly , and would have no secret transactions , either in voting or legislating . "

      Mb . Horsbian , M . P . —The right hon . gentleman addressed his constituents at Stroud on "Wednesday . On the Reform movement ho observed that tlic two great points which excited the most intense interest in connexion with the question were the extension of the . franchise and the ballot . In all probability Mr . Berkeley's proposition to have the ballot introduocd into the Government measure would be defeated . The most important question involved in any new Reform Bill would bo the extension of the suffrage . The difficulty in every plan for extending tho suffrage which hud hitherto been proposed was , that it was onl y a steppingstone to universal suffrage , or rating suflYago , which Mr . Bright accepted avowedly as a compromise , as tuking universal suffrage at two bites instead of one . Ho ( Mr .

      Horaman ) was against all class legislation , and universal sufflrago must place tho Government of tho country' entirely in tho hands of one class , tho most numerous and tho most uneducated . Observe , tho object of representation wan , that they should have as perfect a legislative body as possible , and that it should bo a fair representation of all classes and Interests in tho country . There were three great elements to bo considered in representation—property , intelligence or education , and numbers -, and the more perfect their combination of all tho throe , tho more perfect the House of Commons must be . Tho rosult of universal suffrage would bo , not an equal distribution of tho suffrage , but that tho educated classes would bo swamped , and tho property class < liufranchisod , while tho Government of tho country would be placed in tho hands of the uneducated opprativo clans . Was that a desirable or a . safe state of things ? They

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 15, 1859, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15011859/page/4/