The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-11-14 00:00:00

would say merely with regard to Mr. Henry Foley thM
if what he he I heted was correct, he had vitt, enottglit to
Ii with West Stall trdshire without iat, rfering in East
Woreestershice—)leul cheers, And " than he can
ilo i. And he lentil nay netre—thst though let lee! bet
little per:eine' keowledge if tii lion. gentl,tman, what lie
had seen led hint to ths cunciu iii that a little legal train-
ing would have "o to him Sri harm—(che,ring and brigh-
t .r). He (hit Foley) would, at all events, have Ii arid
that to succeed be merit iii a proftaston wca not a Oroy
as to succeed by birth to an est ite—telitters). 110 was
happy now to be able to state he was done with personal
matters, and he hoped they would listen with lineation
while he explained his political views—(kear, bear). He
eime before them, as he had frequently said before, not
upon any antiquated notiolsl9 of old-fasitioned Toryism.
He believed that the time had coma when the old de-
mareati na if party wen I be remov.d, and when the two
new patties would I, funnel, under whice they would be
called igen] to arrange themselves once for all. The
parties would be the Liberal-Conservatives on the one
hand, and Radicals on the other. He said that the Lib.
eral-Conservatives. to which he belonged, were a party
animated by a spirit of improvement ; a party deteriuiued
to reform and renovate ma institutioLs ; but, at the same
time, resotve to defeat and oppose, in every way ia their
power, the destruetion of those institutions—(cheers)—
under which this cuunaty has become great, glorious,
happy, and free—ieheerse It had been a matter of cri.
ticiam with regard to the term Liberal-Conservative, hut
his hon. opponent bad said that a Libcral-Conservative
was a bigot out of caste, and Liberal only for the sake of
place. He would milt what his hon. opponent, Mr. Lyt.
telton was before he becaine a Liberal—(a voice: "A
Tory.") Some one had salt he was a Tory. and he be-
lieved he was a Tory in the sense that he WM a Liberal-
Conservative ; and those who knew him had said only a
few months before lie became a emendate at the lust el.
action for the division, he WAS a Liberal•Couservative—
(aheers). He believed that at that moment their res.
peeted Lord Lleutetinaut, ehom he never could mention
without feeling great esteem and regard—(cheers)—WMl
more properly described as a Liberal.Conecrvative than
by any other party name whatever—(cheers). He (Mr.
Atiophlett), therefore, begged to say he was not ashamed
of standiug before his fellow-countrymen as a Liberal.
Conservative, and whatever atrectieu there might be
in knowing what it meant, he was certain the great body
of his fellow.countrymen knew what it meant, and they
would be prepared to support thi,t party who detine.d
theetselvee BS liberel•Cons trystives—elleers). It Wes
a remarkab e fact that almost all the groat IlleitSares that
had been carried for the lasttwenty years had been car-
ried not by the Libetals, who had been in power the
greater portion of that time, hot by the Conservatives,
or Litteral-Consurvatives—(' Right," and No, no").
Who carried the repeal of the Corn Laws?—(A Voice:
" Cobden and Bright"). He admitted that Cobden and
Bright advocated those measures ; but what they
wanted was men who not only advocate them in pepular
assemblies, but who would carry them through Parlia-
ment. Sir Robert Peel carried the repeal of the Corn
Laws—(cheers). Mr. Amithlett went on to state that
the Conservatives carried the Factory Acts, which were
opposed by Mr. Gladst in and Mr. Bright, awl ;that the
great law isforma of late years had been carried by the
Conservative lawyers and Conservative Governments.
The great reform measure of hot year, ehiell bad so de-
servedly met with the approbation tif the country, had
been passi.d by a Conservative Government, alamegh
Mr. Gladstone and those who followed hie,. tried every
messes they e old thieik of to strangle the bill in its pas.
saga That act was fitund to be so popular in the coun-
try, that the general tenor of the imeechits was that
the Reform Act was a most excellent act; that there I
never Was so wide and extensive a measure passed be-
fore, but that it well not the Government's, bna, theirs—
(laughter). And that was the ordinary course Liberals
had taken. As an instance of this, Mr. Amphlett
pointed out the reform of the London workhouses ef-
fected by Mr. Hardy immediately upon hie attaining to
power. After eulogising lord Stanley's foreign policy
in terms nearly similiar to those used by him on other
occasions, the hon. candidate went on to say that he had
been called a thick aid thin, or as it had deen more ele-
gantly expressed, a tooth and nail supporter of Mr. Dis-
raeli—(laughter). He begged to tell them he was not
dependant upon his profession, and that he was as in-
dependent a gentleman as any who lived in the count;
and he told them if they returned him—(disorder and
interruption)—to Parliament, be should di cline to be
bonnd to the chariot wheela of Mr. Disraeli or of any-
body else—(cheers). Be would go to Parliament as an
ineependent man, determined to support those measures
he thought for the geol of the country---(loud cheers)
—and that, although for the reasons he had stated he
believed that the present Government was the Govern-
ment to which he should be able to give his support, but
if they disappointed his expectations he would no :over
support them—(ebeera). There was one charge brought
against the present Government with which he would
deal with at once, it was that of extravagance. With
regard to Mr. Gladstone'e speeches in Laecashire he
would observe that though he had not one word to say
prejudicial to the character of Mr. Gladstone, for he
never would innate serdid or hese motives to that great
statesman, he only meant to say that Mr. Gladstone, feel-
ing honestly impressed with the necessity of the coun-
try having himself as Prime Minister—(laughter)—
thought himself justified in using any weapons, however
unfair, for that purpose—(" No," cheers, and counter
cheers ; isondiarable interruption, during which three
cheers were given by one party for Mr. Gladstone, and
three by the other for Mr. Amphlett). When he looked
upon the unscrupulous statements made by Mr Glad-
' atone in Lancashire, he could not help thiakiug that
Mr. Gladstone" on the stomp' was worse than" Mr,
Gladstone in the gutter." The speaker ;then at some
length went on to show, that it was the late Government
that were extravagant. There was only one more sub-
ject which was likely to produces difference of opinion
batwean them, and that was the Irish Church question
—(hear, hear, and disorder. A Voice: "You are worse
than the Lye Waste folks—laughter). Thd Sion
I of the Irish Church was one--(- Down with it,- and
i renewed interruption and disorder).
The Chairman rose and asked those present not to
judge a man without hearing hiin—fir voice : "They are
afraid to hear him; they don't like the truth.") If they
I thought they were furthering their cause by interrupting
him, he eou.d tell them they were not.