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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd April 1853, Edition 1 of 1, Page 315, Untitled Article

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      feelings towards Canada , determined to sefc at nought the wishes of the Canadian Legislature , and refused to fulfil the promises of their predecessors . It was the first duty of the present Government—and an agreeable one it was —to redeem those pledges , and to apply to Canada the great , the true , and all-important rule of colonial policynamely , that all questions which affect exclusively the local interests of a colony possessing representative institutions shall be dealt with by the local legislature . ( Hear , hear . ) That rule should , in raj opinion , form the basis of our system of colonial government . The strict adherence to it would , more than anything else , tend to strengthen and consolidate our vast colonial empire , which now contains every climate of the earth—which is capable of

      producing every commodity that is useful or agreeable , or beneficial to man—which is in the act of being rapidly peopled by myriads of our race , speaking our language , with wants , feelings , and tastes similar to our ownanxious to exchange the produce of their new homes for the creations of oar unrivalled skill and manufacturing industry— -willing to carry on with us an immense and increasing , and a mutually beneficial commerce , but , like true- Englishmen , desiring to have the mauagement of their local affairs , and to possess Anglo-Saxon institutions . ( Cheers . ) With such institutions the colonists would long continue to be loyal and devoted subjects of the British Crown . Therefore , to give them such institutions should be the great object of the colonial policy of this country , and is the great object of the colonial policy of her Majesty ' s present Ministers , and especially of my noble friend the Secretary of "State for the Colonies , who is a sincere ,

      * ealous , and determined colonial reformer . ( Hear , hear . ) One of the first official acts of my noble friend was to frame , with the cordial approbation of his colleagues , a constitution for the colony of the Cape of Good Hope . A constitution ought to have been given to that colony at least eight years ago ; but Lord Derby , who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies , refused to comply with the wishes and entreaties of the Governor of the Cape . And when Lord Derby ' s late Government came into power , they raised every obstacle , and discovered every difficulty in the way of granting free institutions to South Africa . ( Hear . ) But my noble friend ' s energy soon removed every one of those obstacles , and overcome every one of those difficulties ; and an order in council has lately been sent to the Cape conferring a most liberal constitution upon that colony , from which I anticipate the happiest consequences . " ( Cheers . )

      In succession he then noticed the abolition of transportation to Australia , and the Jew Bill . - He then came to the third subject of legislation . After careful consideration , the Government came to the conclusion that it was not necessary to increase the amount of our military or naval forces , or to add to the number of our soldiers or 6 ailors ; for we do not wish to assail any country , or to interfere in any way with its i nternal affairs . We desire to be on friendly terms with the established Government ( whatever it may be ) m € © very . European nation ; but at the same' time the Government felt it to bo their duty to render this country unassailable , by improving our defences—a necessary tub costly work . ( ITear , hear . ) The conduct of the Government in thiB

      matter has received the most decided mark of the approbation of the Houso of Commons , for the army , navy , and ordnance estimates have passed without opposition , and almost without discussion . In mentioning our foreign relations , I cannot help referring to some unhappy and lamentable events which have lately occurred abroad—I mean the deplorable insurrection at Milan , and the execrable attempt to assassinate the Emperor of Austria . Those events have been attributed b y writers in foreign newspapers to the intrigues and machinations of political refugees in this country ; and it has boon said that the Government of this country ought to expel those refugees . But the Government has no power to do anything of tho kind ; they have no intention to ask Parliament to give thorn any such power ; they havo no wish to possess or to exercise such a power , ( iloar , hear . ) For this country

      has been , and I hope will long continue to be , an asylum for men of every political faith . It has afforded shelter by turns to every vanquished party , and even to our bitterest foes . It has given equal security to tho friends of liberty and to tho friends of despotism—to the Uourbon and tho Ifcod Republican—to the Orleanist and to the Socialist—to Metternich , Kossuth , and Masszini—to . Toinvillo , Louis Blanc , and Ledru liollin . ( Cheers . ) But I must express tho samo opinion as my noble friend Lord Puhnerston did , in reply to a question which was put to him in tho Houso of Commons , that foreign refugees , in accepting tho hospitality of this country , are bound by ovory principle of honour to abstain from entering into intrigues , and from attempting to disturb tho tranquillity of other countries , and that , if they do not ho abstain , they dosorvo tho severest censure- and condemnation . ( Hear , lvoar . )

      Tho corruption of the last general election was his next topic . Tho investigation before tho committees had disclosed hideous scenes of bribery , corruption , intimidation , undue and disgraceful influence of every kind , sort , and description—exorcised , in some instances , by portions too closely connected with the Into ( lovermnejit of this country . "Ifow to put n stop to these lament ul > lo- — tbo . se

      loathsoiri ( 5 evils—irt a problem not of tho easiont , solution ; but n Btop must bo put to thorn , for thoir unchecked contin uanco would bring discredit upon representative government , and endanger t , ho institutions of this country — ( hoar , hear ); and if Uioho institutions over perish , they will die , not from external causes , but , from tho cancer of corruption consuming tho vituls of our doctoral system . ( Olieorfl . ) A remedy must be found and npplinri , and n potent ono it must bo—a now reform bill , tho disfran-• ldflomont of tho corrupt constituencies , and , in my opinion ,

      the ballot , are wanted . ( Cheers . ) But until the election committees have all reported , and the commissions appointed to inquire into the corrupt constituencies have concluded their investigations , and those investigations have been carefully considered , it seems to be the general opinion that it would not be expedient for the Government to bring in a new reform bill , and that it had better , therefore , be left till next session , especially as there are several other important questions which must occupy the attention of Parliament during the greater portion of tho remainder of this session . ( Hear , hear . ) Those questions are the education of the people , the budget , and the

      government of India . My noble friend , Lord John Eussell , ¦ will on Monday next bring the question of the education of the people under the consideration of the House of Commons , and state the intentions of the Government . The Chancellor of the Exchequer will , as soon as he can , bring on the budget , and state his views on the incometax . And the question of the future government of India must be raised this session , as the charter of the East India Company will expire at the beginning of next year . ( Hear , hear , hear . ) Until the Government shall have announced to Parliament their intentions on those subjects , it would , you know , be indiscreet , and contrary to all the rules of etiquette , for me to discuss them . "

      Sir William sat down amid loud cheers . The otheT speakers were Sir Alexander Cockburn , Mr . Bevington , Mr . Apsley Pellatt , M . P ., Mr . Wilson , and Mr . Pritchard .

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      THE GREYS ARE A-COMING ! " All the talents" are not in the Cabinet . A demonstration at Alnwick , on Tuesday , collected four omitted Whigs , once Cabinet Ministers , with a small band of minor Parliamentary men . The object of the meeting was to celebrate a defeat in a generous and cheerful way , by the presentation of the usual " piece of plate" to Sir George Grey , rejected by the county at the last election , and by a pleasant dinner-party of one thousand persons , assembled in a large tent , specially erected in the market-place . ( The piece of plate , worth 400 guinea ? , was contributed chiefly by 13 , 000 working men . ) The arms of " the Grey family" were emblazoned in front of the chair , and there were present of the clan , Sir George Grey , Earl Grey , Rev . F . R . Grey , Rev . John Grey , Captain the HonJ H . C . Grey , Mr . J . Grey , Mr . G . H . Grey , and Mr . C . A . Grey . Persons present not of the family were , the Earl of Carlisle , Lord Panmure , Mr . J . B . Blackett , M . P ., Mr . Ingham , M . P ., and the Mayor of Newcastle . This gathering of ex-officials was signalized at the outset by a proceeding equally out of place . The Chairman , Sir "Walter C . Trevelyan , commenced liis duties by a neat and inappropriate address against intemperance in general , and in particular against " toast-drinking , as a relic of barbarism . " He could not " in conscience , " he said , " call upon them to fill their glasses . " Whether the Northumbrians filled them -without an ex cathedra command , is not recorded ; some hisses , however , followed the oration , but . the chairman having been restored to order , the business of the day proceeded .

      The presentation of the testimonial—a candelabra and salver with industrial devices—was the chief incident . Mr . Young , " the Remington Iron Works , " made a speech to Sir George Grey , asserting that the Liberal party were not dispirited or disheartened , and that at tho next election they would win the day . Sir Goorgc Grey returned thanks . After the expected expression of bis gratitude and " unworthiness , " Sir George went over the old points and the recent history of the Free-trade controversy , confessing ^ iowcver , that bo fell short" of other members of the House of

      Commons in " not having recorded his name among those who set tho crowning act to flu ; policy of Freetrade , " but triumphantly excusing this seeming laches by pointing out that " not having had a scat in tho House of Commons , of course he could not havo joined in the act . " On points of present public interest , tho remarks of tho ex-minister wore meagre . Referring to tho subscribers to tho testimonial—mostly nonelectors—he said : — " I havo been forliinutc enough to

      obtain wbnt I consider tho highest prize of political life—( ho warm , the generous , the sincere regard , the good wishes , and attachment of that largo , important , and industrious class of my fellow-countrymen who possess , as yet , no direct voice in tho choice of Members of Parliament . " Afterwards , lie reform ! emphatically and more than once , to the " many advantages which the > people possess under our representative institutions , " and " pronounced" on electoral reform in the following balanced sentence :-

      —"Ah some allusion has been made by Mr . \ oung to what T Hiiid on a former occasion with regard to Mm extension of the suffrage , 1 cannot—retaining and recollecting tho Hontiinents which Mr . Young quoted , and being prepared to concur in a wide diffusion of political rights and privilogoH in proportion to tho growing knowledge and intelligouco of tins people- - ( loud cheers ) — I cannot refrain from saying that I am not : ono of those who would depreciate our existing IIouho of Commons , or Hay that , it imperfectly represents tho 1 ' eolingn and wishes of the people ; I think that all facts and experience tend to a directly contrary result . " flu added , " Defects there are , no doubt ,

      in our representative system , which I trust will speedily be dealt with in a bold and firm and strictly constitutional spirit . " On the question of education , he mixed in one sentence a claim for the credit of past legislation , and a parenthetical promise of future promotion , saying : — "I need not advert to the attention which has been bestowed , and which will yet be bestowed by the House of Commons on the education of the people , —an education not only in the mechanical arts of reading and writing , but an education fitting men for the performance of their moral and social duties , and for those higher aspirations which affect the destinies of their immortal souls . " Earl Grey is " Lord Lieutenant of the County ; " as such his health was next proposed . He spoke briefly , referred , of course , to Free-trade and to something else , as follows : —

      " It is quite true that that territorial influence to which allusion has been made , added to a delusive cry , have succeeded—so far as the mere return of members of Parliament is concerned—as they succeeded in 1807 and in 1841 . But have these electoral defeats been attended with real political defeats or not ? ( No—no . ) On the contrary , althou g h we may have lost the election , our principles have most signally triumphed . ( Cheers . ) In 1807 , the cry was danger to the Church , and a bigoted cry against our Eoman Catholic fellow-subjects . But who is there now

      who would take up the cry which at that time had so much power ? ( Cheers . ) I believe it would be almost as easy to find a living representative of some of those extraordinary monsters of which we see the fossil remains in our museums , as to find a living maintain er of the high Protestant and bigoted feeling of 1807 . ( Cheers and laughter . ) I believe there is no man to be found who will not admit that it is greatly to be lamented for the public interest that by tho short-sighted bigotry of those days the healing measure of 1829 was deferred until it had lost so many of its advantages . "

      The Earl of Carlisle , whose happy spirit not even , the cold weather nor personal ill-health could depress , was the next speaker . Excusing the brevity of his remarks , he said : — " The fact is , that I am now labouring under a somewhat heavy indisposition , and I happen to have rather a busy week before me , so that I ought rather to be by a quiet fireside , not , I can assure our worthy chairman , with any inebriating posset before me —( loud laughter)—but with what I should quite agree with him in considering- a more healthful thing , than in thus standing in the middle of the market-place at Alnwick , at a time , too , when the unmelted snows still cap the Cheviots . With respect to Sir George Grey , I feel that words will not be wanted from me , for if the feelings entertained towards him are such as have brought us together , and now throb and glow in the

      breasts of this vast assembly—an assembly comprising so much of the lineage , the industry , the enterprise , and the worth of our stout and hardy Northumbrians . ( Loud cheers . ) I need not express the sentiments that are entertained towards him . by an old friend , and an old colleague . In common with my friend Sir George Grey , I have known what it is to be united to such a body of men in the hour of victory . I know what it is to be sustained by their sympathy in the day of defeat . ( Cheers . ) And it is with such a body of men that I conceive I now come to join , in honouring private worth and in rewarding public virtue . These are tho motives which have brought mo to-day to Alnwick , and I could not express them more distinctly , even if I talked away tho whole of the little breath which is now left inc . ( Loud cheers . )" Introduced with the recommendation of lieinir

      " bettor known to them as Mr . IoxMaule , ' Lord Panmure expressed a very natural delight ( shared by so many of his countrymen ) that the old feeling between the Northumbrian and the Scot li ; id passed away , : uid that " when a Scotchman crosses tho border he is received now , not as formerly with a shout , of definneo , but with a shout of welcome . " IJeferring , in warm words , " to the splendid achievement of the Reform Bill" ( the past , not the future ) , and characterising the mooting as " the most , orderly and most respectables Jut ever saw , " he hinted a wish for another invitation . " I

      thank you cordially for your favours , and I hope tlud , though this is the first , time 1 have met a Northumbrian audience , or enjoyed Northumbrian hospitality , that you will again invite tho Mue Bonnet over the border ; and believe me , I say it , hi all sincerity , the Blue Bonnet will bo right , glad to conic . " " Knthusiastie cheering" announced that , Ihe Northumbrians were fully persuaded of the , fact . Tho best speech of tho evening , direct , and applicate , was that spoken by a fanner , Air . Samuel Donkin , speaking as an " Independent , " elector of North Northumberland : —

      He would not , as a farmer , upbraid I . Jioko of his own class who voted against , Sir (« . (« royal , tho last election for being nioro Hcrvilo and dependent I linn others who voted on tho other side . That , many vol . os recorded against , tho right lion , baronet would , nuclei * other circunistancuM , hare been givon in hi . s favour , was beyond dispute ; audit waH humiliating to witness , in times of hi ^ -h political < ixoitoinont , such obsequiousness in tho electoral body ( o the will of othorH . Such a lack of moral courage in tho

      oxproNsioii of opinion , invited upon itself that intimidation which party ambition in tho accompliNhuient ol its object , was ever no ready to exejrtoise j and looking 1 to the complexion of tho poll-book , and contntttint it with tho known political opinions of tho landlords of tne county , it , would do found that , the farmers upon the different crates voted uImiohL to a man with their JindU ^ a * . ( Hear , hoar . ) A i ' ow exceptions thoro cortamly w « w ctf men who , having a duo Bouse of tho dignity of man ' s nature , earned for them .

      Untitled Article

      April % 1853 . ] T H E LEADER . 315

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 2, 1853, page 315, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1980/page/3/