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    e ^ slattnre , aad every close of officials in . the Adminisfeestion . Again , is not Mr . 3 STioHoi-ii cesolred to repeat his venture at ' Frorae ? Will aot the Liberals reconquer Carlow , the great borough of Liverpool , Yough al , and the other jonstituencies lost at Iiord Debby ' s general election ? They will probably make the attempt , and succeed , in Iiiverpool especially , where the

    electors are ashamed of their choice of a person so totally insignificant as Mr . Turner , ind a person so feeble and so rash as Mr . MCa . ckeitz , xe , in preference to Mr . Cabdweil md Mr . Ewibt , both men of intellect , vhatever may be the limitations of tbeir [ liberality . But the result of an isolated jlection , here and there , is comparatively lnimportant . The main question is , why ihonld the constituencies trouble themselves

    ; o return to Parliament representatives of ; heir own choice ? "We must believe them to aave political objects of one kind or another in view ; but , if we may judge from-the proceedings of borough meetings , those objects ire not very large or various . Upon what grounds did Mr , Wixxi am IVillxams claim bhe confidence of Xambeth ?; . First , for a reason very much to his credit—that he had attended the House of Commons every night md day during the last session . Then ,

    because he would have supported the continuance of the Russian war-would support IJord PaSmekston ' s interpretation of the Treaty ; and , not very consistently , would insist upon i reduction of our naval and military establishments . He had helped to defeat Prince A . I . BERT on the question of a new National Q-allery ; had resisted Sir GtEoroe Gritux ' s Police Bill j on account of its centralizing rendencies ; and had a violent objection to military camps and civil forces under the control of the Government . As to the

    Insome-tax , he would abolish it ; as to the Crystal Palace , be would open it on Sundays , and . he would not . The meeting ; reminded him that he was a political reformer , and he aid not den } r it . Only , he had nothing to say 5 n that matter . Mr . "WiiiLiAii " Wilxtam s is not a gentleman of much political importance ; but he is an honest [ Liberal , and Lambeth is a great constituency . Its Liberalism has grown with bhe growth of its electoral list , -which numbered less than five thousand at the date of

    bhe Reform Bill , and now numbers not far short of nineteen thousand . It is a constibuency which may safely be reckoned upon to return a thorough lieformei' , and we say that it should be the pride of such a constituency to send to Parliament , not only a Liberal representative , but a man of the highest character , and of commanding intellect . Lambeth has done with the innocuous officialism of Mr . Benjamin Hawes , and the elegant " Whiggery of Mr . Tjsnntson D'ExncotrctT ; but it might improve upon the consulate of Messrs . " Wilkinson and "Williams .

    It is not probable that the Tory opposition in Parliament will be more powerful during the next session than during the last . It has had no accessions of numbers or of intellect ; its unity ia gone ; it is broken up ; the Earl of Derby is no longer its leader ; Sir John Pakincjton stands at the head of one section , and another appeals to Mr . ITun-X . ET , while garrulous gossips insist that Mr .

    GtLadstone has been invited to supersede Mr . Disraeli as chief of the Tory orators in th © House of Commons . In the midst of the bickerings and jealousies of this unfortunate faction , a vigorous Premier may hold on his course unimpeded ; but , were a decisive division to prove that Parliament had thrown off ita indulgent allegiance to ' tho W : vr Minister , ' the result would be , not a change of Cabinet , but a dissolution , followed by an '

    appeal to the country . ' At this point the electors are challenged . What have they to say , to wish , to propose ? "What , for example , ia the poliey' of the Southampton Liberals ? Southampton , it will be remembered , is a county in itself , and one of the most ancient constituencies in the realm . It still contains certain freemen , and more than two hundred of those scot and lot voters , the former constituents of the present Premier ' s father . Its political influences have wavered "between

    Liberals and Tories ; it returned two Liberals to the first reformed Parliament , two Conservatives to the second , one of each to the third , two Tories to the fourth , two Liberals to the fifth and sixth . Greenwich also has fluctuated from the incompetent Conservatism of Woi / YERLY Attwood to the forensic Liberalism of Mr . Montagu CHAMBERS and the contractor ' s docility of Mr . Peter ItoiT . As to Lanarkshire , it remains to be seen whether that county , which was three times walked

    over by a voiceless Tory , will return to the independence of former days , when it selected a popular representative in spite of the Hamilton family , which now insults tlie electors by attempting to force Mr . Bailuie Cochrane upon them . Tewkesbury is a miserable little borough , with scarcely four hundred voters , whose habit it is to return a Martin of Overbury and a gentleman who , like Mr . Humphrey Buown , has British Bank resources at his disposal for the time being . Glasgow , the seat of a

    fourteenthcentury parliament and of an earldom , and haunt of scarlet-robed togati , has , since 1832 , been invariably liberal , if not judicious , in its choice of members . But what shall be said of Middlesex , which clings to Mr . BERNAii Osborne as though Ms tongue bad not been cut but by the paymaster of the official departments ? And what of the constituency which enthrones in Parliament the -Naturalism of Major Heed ? Or of theBorough which qualifies Sir . Henry Dbuhsiond to utter in the House of Commons tliat which

    more scrupulous talkers than lie would call licentious ribaldry , if it appeared anonymously in a newspaper ? There are not a few personal questions of this sort to be considered before the electoral class is agaiu summoned to the polling-booths .

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    MORE PROPHECIES ON THE BUCHANAN POLICY . Tite journals , American and English , have teemed with reports as to Mr . Buchanan ' s probable policy , foreign and domestic . "We have already explained how totally without any authentication , these reports are ; they can , indeed , only be based upon a review of the actual events , aided by such light as can be drawn from the knowledge of Buchanan ' s character , antecedents , and position . These data for a political judgment have already corrected some of the wildest calculations

    which have been hazarded . A xegard for their own political acumen has compelled some of those who went the furthest in painting him , prophetically , as the agent of slavery extension , to admit that that view is as fallacious as if he had been called the leader of tho abolitionist party . James Buchanan is neither Lloyd Garrison" nor Preston Brooks . An excellent paper appears in a recent number of the JSfcw York

    lie raid , a journal which frequently admits into its columns judicious and well-informed papers , though in tho intervals of such sober exposition it takes the opportunity ol startling its readers with representations that cannot bo so well sustained . Our New York contemporary shows that Mr . Buchanan ia as little likely to subserve " tho ultrasoubhem disunion cliquo" as he is " tho amtislavery ultras of tho north" : —

    " For out part , we feel assured that it is the present intention of Mr . Buchanan to give the country a conservative and conciliat ory administ ration in , his domestic and foreign , policy , and not a career of lawless torder ruffianism at home and recHess filibustering abroad , for the purpose of extending the area of Southern slavery and the political po-wer of the South in Congress , t&q have no doubt of the lawful and honourable inclinations of Mr . Buchanan , for we fully believe that he will endeavour from the outset to take that course best calculated to allay our domestic sectional excitements upon , slavery , and best adapted , ia our foreign relations , to secure the respect and confidence of foreign Powers , Americand

    an European . " " With regard to Kansas , the most pinching question of the day , the Neio York Herald anticipates that Mr . Buchanan -will stand upon " the organic law of the territory ; " by which it is ordained that " the territory ia open to settlers of all sections , all nations , and all opinions , slavery or anti-slavery ; and that when these settlers shall proceed to organize a state constitution , it shall rest with them to determine upon the establishment of slavery in , or its exclusion from , the commonwealth . "

    "With respect to the Ostend manifesto and Cuba , the probability is equally clear . No possible President of the " United States can be expected to surrender the principle of the Munro doctrine , —America for the Americans ; but no American statesman , who intends to promote the enduring interests of his country , or to procure for himself an historical reputation , will apply that doctrine recklessly . Mr . Buchanan will not accept as a medium for the interpretation of the Munro doctrine any mere

    adventurer , however energetic and picturesque , like G-eneral Walkee . " Every President , from John Quinct Adams down , has considered the acquisition of the Island of Cuba as a most desirable , thing ; it is the key to the Gulf of Mexico , the natural lock and key of the southern commerce and the southern , coast . " These expressions less , express an opinion than state facts-, and we have recorded the same conclusion long ago , In the event of war witIi any really powerful Government , it would be absolutely

    necessary , on military grounds , for the United States to tak ^ possession of Cuba . In doing so the Ilepublic would commit no injustice upon any interest whatsoever . Spain does not govern Cuba , but puts it out under contract to some adventurer like O'Donneli , who makes his fortune out of it , on condition of helping certain Spanish families to continue their' traffic in official corruption , and in patronage of the slave-trade . The most numerous native party in Cuba would gladly

    welcome the change ot masters , as the transfer would bring with it safety for life and property and certain prosperity . A magnificent island is now wasted upon the agents of Spanish corruption , transferred , it would become a grand emporium , of commerce for tlie benefit of the natives , of the "United States , and even of English merchants . But assuredly Mr . Buchanan will never lend his countenance to filibustering attempts . Whenever the Island shall be annexed to the

    United States , it will either be acquired by regular treaty , or taken in the prosecution of military enterprize . The United States have not , for a long succession of years , possessed as President a man who had so completely a knowledge of State business , European as well aa American ; none- who has been so completely elevated above tho contracted views of sectional parties ; none who has committed himself so little- to any extravagant mission , and has shown so consistent a fidelity to the laws , tho steadfast traditions , and tho broad interests of America . Mr , Buchanan has hitherto

    disappointed factious and fussy persons b y reserving the direct statement of hia intentions , and deferring the formation of his Cabinet

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    PEOEmSER 13 , 1856 . ] [ THE LEADER . ll&f

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 13, 1856, page 1187, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2171/page/11/