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    No. 4,48, Octobbb 23,1858.] T H E L E A ...

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    PitorsoGATiON.—With tho usual formalitie...

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    Political Robeshadowikgs. Conservative D...

    tration ; and he thought a lieform Bill by them would be a tolerably satisfactory piece of legislation . A new Reform Bill ought * he thought , to be Lased on two or tliree simple principles . There should be an extension of the frarichise , and , in his opinion , a bl . household qualification , would not be too low , and it would introduce a great amount of property and intelligence into the political system of the country . But he was also in favour of an educational qualification . TSiis qualification would give the privilege of voting to many persons engaged in professions , and would also admit a great number of working men to the privilege of voting . Two or three years * connection with a mechanics institution , or a successful examination by tlie Society of Arts , or the Oxford and Cambridge middle-class examinators , ought to be a good test for this qualification . The result would be to put a premium on education . Though the ballot might not be the universal panacea that some thought it , it would invariably receive his

    . support . Loud WoDeiiouse ox Foreign Affaius . —At the dinner of the North W ' alsham Agricultural Society , . Lord Wodehouse , late ambassador at the Court of St . Petersburg , said that nothing was more important than that : i man who took an interest in politics at all should keep his eves steadily fixed on our foreign relations . We had heard a great . deal lately about Cherbourg and the French alliance , and he thought that iu some respects a great , deal more had been said than was necessary about the dangers which appeared to threaten us . On the other hand , he had no hesitation , in observing that a great deal too much had been said , in favour of the French alliance . No doubt an alliance with France

    was necessary to this country , and it was especially beneficial in the case of the late Russian war ; but if such an alliance was to prevent the expression of our iVea opinion on the administration of affairs in France iud what took place in that countrj-, it was no longer a healthy alliance , and the moment it came to be tried it ¦ would be found to be a broken reed on which it was unsafe , to lean . A frank and open line of conduct was certainly the best , and if we did not approve of what was done in France , it was much better that we should lint avoid saj'ing so at any reasonable and proper time . Or Russia , the noble lord said ' that it was undoubtedly

    a great and growing , country ,. ' whose hostility might be dangerous ,: and whose friendship , might be valuable . On his arrival in Russia he found there prevailed towards England a deep-seated hostility , on account of the part wcJiad taken against her , but he thought that the feeling had of late been materially diminished . The ¦ hostility did not arise from the fact that Kussia was conquered , for she had been no more conquered than we we re , although undoubtedly she got the worst of it , as she admitted ; it was only a natural feeling of resentment , which was now being greatly diminished . The attention of the Russians was now fixed on internal

    affairs , and so great were the improvements going on , so radical were the reforms in which the Russian Government had embarked , that we might fairly calculate that they would be desirous that the peace of Europe should be kept , at least for many years to come . Mu . Masse y , M . P . —On Wednesday , Mr . W . N . Mn-sey , Member for Salford , and lato Whig Undersecretary , addressed his constituents , lie said : Whatever other measures might bo brought forward in the next session , there was one which hud been kept dangling before tho country ( to use the worda of the Prime Minister ) for a long series of years , and which could not b , e any longer put off— he meant a measure of Parliamentary Reform . Such a bill ought , lie thought , to

    remove the anomalies which at present oxisted lii tho representation . Insignificant towns of three hundred or four hundred electors , subject to the influence , perhaps , ¦ of soino great proprietor , and to tho still more objectionable influences of bribery and corruption , ought to be disfranchised , and their votes given to places of wealth and intelligence , such ns Liverpool and Leeds , Manchester and Murylebone . Ho thought a largo extension of tho franchise might safely and with great advnntago bo made . He thought a sort of industrial ov educational test might bo devised which would admit a largo number of now voters . But , of courso , tho franchise could not stop there . They would require also an extension us regarded tho property qualification . As to tho ballot , he had always advocated it , ho had always voted for it , ho would continue to support it hy word and flction should

    . Ho certainly give his support to Mr . Locke King's motion for extending the county franchise . Mussus . Inouaim , M . P ., and Adams , M . I ? . — At a soiree in connection with tho Boston Athenwuin , speeches wero mailo by Mr . Ingram and Mr . Adams , tho representatives of the borough . Mr . Adams referred to tlio forthcoming Reform Bill . Ho had understood Mr . Ingnun to bo of opinion that tho franchise should have » n educational basis , and he declared that to bo his own feeling , If a man were lit to exercise a vote , lot him have It . Ho would hnvo a franchise baqcd on a man ' s fitness to exorcise it , believing that ducii a franchise would be a more euro and certain protection to tho country and to property itself than one based on property alone . Ml ' , ingrain called tho attention of his heurora to some oduoiuionul considerations , and said ho thought it would bo desirable for the post-offices throughout tho country to become the

    medium of receiving small investments from the working classes , in the way of savings hanks , the money to be guaranteed by the " Government . He also alluded to the promised new Reform Bill . Whatever might be done in the direction of a new . franchise , he did say that if a man attended for a certain number of years an institution like their Athenaium , he was a most fit person to have a vote ; and he could only express a hope that in any scheme of reform which might be framed , such a qualification would not be overlooked . Mr . E . W . Cox at Tewkesbuey . —The electors of

    Tewkesburv having requested Mr . Edward XV . Cox , Recorder of * Falmouth , their Liberal-Conservative candidate , to give them his views oii the promised Reform Dill , that gentleman met them on Saturday evening , lie said that he was a humble follower of the Liberal section of the existing Government , represented by Lord Stanley , to whom he looked as his future leader , Sir J . Pakington , Mr . Disraeli , Sir E . 13 . Lytton , and Sir F . Kelly ; and he hoped that Lord Derby would guide his administration so that the views of the party of " progress " might prevail . He had no fear of the workingclasseslie did not believe that the

    Liberal-Conservatives had any reason to fear them ; was among the working men that their opponents were found . The last Reform Bill had done a voat amount of service ; but it must be admitted that it was essentially a party measure . If not so intended , by a happy accident it hit upon precisely the franchise , and preserved the small boroughs that gave constituencies favourable to one party , and that party had dominated for twenty years , to the exclusion of the classes above and below them . The next Reform Bill , then , must be a national one . Lord John Russell had proposed a 01 . franchise . The

    cry , of course , was directly , Why not a bi ., or a 4 ? ., or a 31 . ? He had come to ¦ the conclusion that no merely arbitrary distinction' should be adopted ; that the only satisfactory settlement of the question would be a householder ' s franchise . As for the ballot , reflection had satisfied him that it was a mistake . He had no fear of it in itself as a political engine , but he did fear that it would be injurious to the national character , by the cultivation of habitual hypocrisy . With the franchise he proposed it would not be wanted , because the electors would be too numerous to make it worth while for any man to coerce them . " ' . ~

    . Mr . Baxter , M . P . —This lion , member addressed a meeting of his constituents on Tuesday . Referring to the constitution and policy ¦ of recent Whig aristocratic governments , he said : They flatter themselves , I hear , that the independent party to which I belong is . dead : next session may show them their mistake . They may iind that it possesses quite as much vitality , and rather more of organisation , than before . Some of the contests of last session showed us our power , and that we only required more linion to beat Whigs and Tories combineJ . When the really Liberal party agree , they can make themselves both heard and felt ; and perhaps tho stationary Whigs who love office so dearly , may find that the only way to enjoy it once more is to move on in our direction . 1 wish to speak with all respect of Lord Palmerston . I shall not soon forget that he was

    The Ballot in New Zealand . —A debate on the vote by ballot took place in the New Zealand House of Representatives , on the 3 th July . The motion was defeated by a majority of three , the numbers being , Ayes , eleven ; Noes , fourteen . The debate was a very animated one , and tho arguments were extremely well sustained on both sides . The Cjiahteu . —A meeting of Chartists was held on Tuesday in tho Blackfriars ' -road . Both speakers and resolutions went in strongly for the Charter and nothing but the Charter , and all " attempts to unite with the middle flosses were denounced . This was a blow aimed at . Mr . Ernest Jones ' s attempts to unite the two classes on a basis of manhood suilrage .

    ternal relations ; that every man throug country is affected more or less by the expenditure occasioned by expensive wars , carried on at a distance , on unjustifiable pretences , and fbr the attainment of verydoubtful advantages , and they believe that each individual subject of the Queen ought to feel interested in England being the nation to stand forth as the doer o £ justice , and the upholder of international law . Such is the character , such the objects of " The Committees of Foreign Affairs . " Had they not been composed of working men , and had they not afforded evidence of what working men are capable of , we perhaps should not have thought it necessary to give our readers this insight into their organisation and objects . — 77 . se Press .

    The Ballot . —A public meeting on this subject was held on Thursday at Exeter . The success of the ballot and its mode of working in Australia was adverted to at some length , and a resolution was ado 2 > ted to the effect that , as it was understood that a reform in the representative system-will engage the attention of the legislature next session , the meeting desired to record its conviction that no extension of the suffrage will be satisfactory unless protected by vote by ballot . —A meeting on the same subject wag also held a few evenings back at the Devonport Mechanics' Institute , at which a resolution to the same effect was unanimously adopted .

    the greater was his chance , not only of satisfying his own conscience , but of doing that which was best foi the whole country . The Foreign Affairs Committees . —When we tell our readers that in some seventy of the principal manu : facturing towns of this country these committees meet weekly , to consider the . state ' of our foreign relationsthat many of them have obtained an extensive knowledge ' of . all the proceedings of our Foreign office for the last fifty years , and that , they discuss the merits of those proceedings with a judgment and ability which would do credit to many a member of the Legislature—and further ( what is far the most remarkable circumstance connected with them ) , that they are composed only of

    hout the working men , obtaining their livelihood by the sweat of their brow , we thiuk it cannot be denied that it is worth the while of the public to know something about them . It niav be true that these committees appear sometimes to be acting in a sphere for which they are not fitted ; but it is not to be wondered at that men in their position of life should sometimes blunder ; but this is the mere by-play of the part which they are acting . The task which " they have set themselves is to create an interest , in the public mind " of the great manufacturing towns , in foreign affairs . They believe that the internal prosperity of this great nation is deeply affected by the management , or the mismanagement , of our

    extho man who , in 1851-5 , preserved his faith in the power of his country , and , by his firmness , maintained its reputation in Europe . If you ask me whether I have confidence in the present Government , I ask you whotlior 3 -ou mean in the Tory or in tho Radical portion of it ; for no one can say that the political creed of Lord Stanley , Sir J . Pakington , and Mr . Disraeli , is the same as that of Lord Salisbury , Mr . Henley , and Lord J . Manners . All I know is , that already they have redressed some grievances which their predecessors would not uttond to , and I wait patiently to see what measures of a similar tendency the recess is to bring forth . Should they manfully grapple with tho question of churchrates in a liberal spirit , cfl ' ect a reduction in the expenditure , anil propose a really progrossivo measure of liefonn—which , however , can scarcely be expected—then I will support thorn .

    Me . ssks . IIkadlam , M . P ., and Ridley , M . P . —At a public dinner in Newcastle , on Thursday , tho mombors for the borough ntlcmlci . l . Mr . Ileadlnui said : With respect to tho future , they had a Reform Bill promised them next year , and one of her Majesty ' s Ministers had expressed an opinion that a bill might bo produced which would please ull parties . He thought thnt was a somewhat rash expression . Though they found all men reformer ;) , when details camo bufopo them I hero was some possibility of a diH ' urcncu of opinion . Ono thing ho demanded was , that the Government should approach this groat question with nu honuat and oincore spirit ,

    that they should proposo something which they think will be a roal and wubstahtinl improvement upon that constitution of ours , which , though it may bo dofoctivo in some respects , doon at the present moment confer a degree of real and substantial freedom , a groator security for poaco and order in . the country , and a greater chanco of good government , than did tho constitution of any state of which he had ever road or , had any possible oxporionco . Mr . Hidloy , M . P ., u'lao referred to the Reform Bill proposed by tho present Government , observing that ho , umongat others , would eventually have to judge of that which might bo proposed for their rejection or acceptance , and tho loss ho gave of any plodgo

    Political Mketino at MANcrmsTRR . —A meeting of working men , desirous of promoting the cause of Parliamentary Reform , was held in Manchester on Mondav . The following resolution was adopted : — " That a provisional committee be forthwith appointed for tho purpose of inaugurating a Reform movement in Mancluster , similar in principle to tho Political Reform League , viz . on tho basis of manhood suffrage , vote by ballot , triennial parliaments , and a readjustment of electoral districts . "

    No. 4,48, Octobbb 23,1858.] T H E L E A ...

    No . 4 , 48 , Octobbb 23 , 1858 . ] T H E L E A D E B . _ __ . 1135

    Pitorsogation.—With Tho Usual Formalitie...

    PitorsoGATiON . —With tho usual formalities Parliament was on Tuesday prorogued to the ll ) th of November , on which clay it will , no doubt , be prorogued for another six weeks .

    PJCMOXSTUATION AGAINST THIS CONFESSIONAL . —A groat vestrymen ' s demonstration has beon made against the practice of confession in tho Church of England . Tho resolution !* woro strong in condemnation of that practice and of Puseyistie ideas generally , and tho s | ioflchifyiiig * w ~ as a good deal in excess , of tho strength of tho resolutions . Tho mooting was held in St . James ' s Hall , Piccadilly , Mr . Alderman Halo in tho chair , and Colonel Voreker and Mr . James Bealo an tho loading spcukors . Admission wan by ticket , and no arguments what

    or resolutions in any way favourable to wns condemned wore permitted . Two gontlomon mado their appearance will * amendment * , the ono to amond tho lirec resolution , so that tho movement nhould take tlio siinpo of doman ling a revision of tho Prayer Book ™ nj » 1 £ » statements the other In favour of those olWine , who follow tho course they bolluvo tho Prayer Book prosmibes . But the task tluw o | . ponuni « bad undertake JOB P 0 £ foctlv hoitok-sa . Tho mbflt romnrkablu foolurd ol tlio moiC wo " I o do ormluod attitude which it appeared toS ! Zalu * t confession under any circumstances .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 23, 1858, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23101858/page/23/