The Press.
London, England, 1857-03-21 00:00:00

SCOTLAND.

In Scotland the only seats that will be contested
are the following :
AYRSHIRE—Sir J. Ferguson (C) is opposed by Lord J.
Stuart ( L). Sir James is the uncle to the present Marquis
of Bute (minor). The Marchioness of Bute supports Sir
James Ferguson. The Duke of Portland. we understand,
gives his interest to Lord Stuart. Sir .James Ferguson's
seat is, nevertheless, safe.

ARGYLESIIIRE.—Sir Archibald Campbell, Baronet, soli.
cits re-election. Notwithstanding the opposition of the
Duke of Argyll and the Marquis of Breadalbane, who have
endeavoured to incite their tenantry to vote against Sir
Archibald Campbell, his return is secure.
Aim, IRVINE, &c.—Mr. A. T. Boyle (C) contests the re•
turn of Mr. E. It J. Craufurd (1.)
Cr ACKMANNAN AND KINAOSS-51r.JOIMStODO retires ; Lord
Melgund (L) has issued an address; Mr. D. Bruce (L)
is also a candidate.

DUNDEE-Mr. Duncan retiree, and Sir J. Ogilvie is a
@and date.

DUMFRIES-Mr. J. Hannay (L C) will contest this
borough with Mr. Ewart.
FALKIRK, &c.—Mr. James Baird retires, and his brother,
Mr. George Baird ( C), and Mu. J. Merry (L) are candi-
dates.
GREENOCK-Mr. Dunlop retires ; Sir H. Rawlinson is a
candidate.
Ktaxamaarow—Mr. Mackie retires in favour of his
son ; Mr. G. Maxwell ( L). of Liverpool, is a candidate.
Lam, &c.—Mr. W. Miller, of London, contests the
return of the Right Hon. James Moncrieff (L)
PAISLEY—Mr. Hastie retires; Mr. J . C. Ewing (L) is
tbo only candidate.

273

Snauxo, etc —Mr. L. Oliphant (L) contests the return
of Sir James Anderson (L
WICK, dm—Captain Lord J. Hay B. N. (L) contests the
return of Samuel Laing (L)
Wurrox. &e.—Sir J. Arraggart, retires; Sir W. Dun•
bar (L), of Mochrum, is a candidate.

ELECTION ADDRESSES AND SPEECHES.
BUCKINGHAMSHIRE.

Mr. Disraeli has i;stie(l&fellowing ad-
dress to his constituents :

TO Till ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM.
Oentlemen,—The House of Commons having, by a
solemn vote, in which the leading men of all parties con-
curred. censured the cruel and double•dealing policy par.
sued by the agents of the Government towards the
Chinese, Parliament has been dissolved.
Since the announcement of the dissolution the Minister
has declared that his agents in China will be superseded,
thus acknowledging the justness of the vote of the House
of Commons.

I: is clear, therefore, that the plea for dissolution is a
pre►ext. What, then, is the real object ?
To waste a year.
Lord Palmerston is an eminent man, who has deserved
well of his country; but as Prime Minister he occupies a
false position. He is the Tory chief of a Radical Cabinet.
With no domestic policy, he is obligtd to divert the atten-
tion of the people from the consideration of their own
affairs to the distraction of foreign politics. His external
system is turbulent and aggressive that his rule at home
may be tranquil and unassailed. Hence arise excessive
expenditure, heavy taxation, and the stoppage of all social
improvement.
His scheme of conduct is so devoid of all political prin-
ciple that when forced to appeal to the people his only
claim to their confidence is his name.

Such arts and resources may suit the despotic ruler of a
continental State exhausted by revolutions, but they do
not become a British Minister governing a country proud,
free, and progressive, animated by glorious traditions, and
aspiring to future excellence.
The honour and the best interests of the country require
that men should be returned to the new Perliement with
definite principles. If you will confer on me, for the fourth
time, the high distinction of being your member, I will, as
heretofore, uphold our Constitution in Church and State,
and support those popular and aristocratic institutions
which, in this country, have not only made power a privi
lege, but have extended the possession of that privilege to
all who exec t themselves to deserve it—institutions which
have educated a nation to aspire and excel.
The general policy which 'I would enforce at this june•
ture may be contained in these words—Honourable peace,
reduced taxation, and social improvement.

There is an attempt at the present day to play of the
parties which exist, and have always to a certain degree
existed, in the Church, against each other far political ob•
jects. This is a dangerous course for Churchmen to
sanction. The Church which, irrespective of its higher
functions, is one of the great guarantees of English
happiness, has foes enough without seeking for them in
her own bosom ; and it would appear to me that, instead
of quarrelling among themselves, Churchmen should
evince mutual forbearance, ntr.te on the common ground
of ecclesiastical polity, awl oppose all efforts to impair the
integrity of that Reformed Church of England which is
the best security for the religious liberty of all classes and
creeds of her Majesty's subjects.

I have-the li.,nour to remain,
Your oblige 1 and faithful servant,
B. DISH ELI.

Hughenden Manor, March 17.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL addressed a meeting of his trip:
porters at the London Tavern on Thursday. The great
room was densely crowded, and the noble lord was warmly
received. Lord John Russell opened his address by art
appeal against the recent decision of the Registration
Society, to exclude him from the representation of the
City, without giving him an opportunity of reply, and he
now came before the electors of London to demand that
they should reverse that decision. The noble lord then
briefly alluded to his past political life, and, coming to the
present, pointed out how he had voted in favour of the
recent budget, as a proof that he was not actuated with any
feeling of hostility to the Government in his vote against
Lord Palmerston upon Mr. Locke King's motion,
or upon the China question. Mr. Locke King's motion
was strongly opposed by the Prime Minister. " Lord
Palmerston declared very explicitly that he was not for
comprehensive reform, and he did not approve of a bit•and-
hit reform like that." The noble lord justified his vote
upon the China question, and characterised the charges
of "factious combination " as " utterly false." With
regard to the future, he th aught three questions were before
the country. The first question was whether Lord
Palmerstou's Government should be supported or replaced
by any other?—" Upon that question I give you my
opinion decidedly that I think Lord Palmerston's Go-
vernment ought to be supported ; and that, having to
choose between Lord Palmerston as the head of the
Liberal party, and the Earl of Derby as the head of the
Conservative party, I would think it my duty to support
the Government of Lord Palmerston." There was a second
question raised in the addre.ses made to the country by
persons of all sorts of opirions—and that is, whether Lord
Palmerston should be supported irrespective of' any
opinions he may profess or of any measure he may bring
forward ?—" To that question I should give a decided
' Nu!' Rut there is a third question : anti I think it is
the -most important of all. Putting aside both the first and
the second questions as relating to persons and Ministers
—whether the great Liberal party, whether the great

274

Reform party of the city of London, and of the town s and
counties throughout the country should hold fast by their
Reform principles, or whether they should abandon them."
(Loud cheers.) To that question his reply might be easily
anticipated. But there was a fourth question of paramount
importance—the question of the retrenchment of our
expenditure. The estimates of the present year exceeded
by more than 5,000,0001. those of Nriti ; and he thought
the Government ought to prepare for such reductions as
would make the income balance the expenditure, in
addition to relieving some of the taxes which press most
heavily on the country. With respect to Reform the
noble lord expressed himself in hope of a further exten•
'ion of the franchise, without which there coald be no
efficient administrative reform. As to church rates, if any
measure could be proposed for their abolition, and yet
securing provision for the Church, he would support it.
In conclusion, the noble lord called upon the electors to
roturn men who by their past conduct and character are
likely to promote the cause of progress I say the cause
of progress ; and it is my intimate conviction that not
only is progress healthy, but that it likewise is Conserve.
tire—as much more Conservative as the flow of a healthy
cureent is more advantageous than the stagnation of an
unwholesome marsh. (Hear, hear.) I believe, therefore,
yon ought to elect men who will promote progress in such
a wry as not to disturb—for I have always been, and have
bee t ' backward' and slow ' on that ground—but
in such a way as not to disturb the various intricate and
corkilicatcd re!ations of our wealthy and complicated form
of a ,ciety—in such a way as not to disturb trade and the
rela ions of men to each other, and to produce alienation
and hostility in the place of confidence and harmony—but
still progress—progress well weighed, amelioration care•
fully considered, an increase of popular franchise and
political power, but at the same time accompanied with
the increase and diffusion of education." (Loud cheers.)
In r.ply to questions put, Lord John Russell stated that
he would not pledge himself to vote for the ballot. A vote
of c nifidence in the noble lord was carried by an over•
whelming majority..

Coitienx and Mn. Mrrenn GIBsoN addressed the
electors at Manchester on Wednesday evening at the Free-
trade Hall. Mr. Milner Gibson in a brief speech justified
the vote he had given on the' China question, for he re-
garded the war as " unjust and unnecessary." Mr. Cob-
den, who was received very warmly, entered at once into
the question of the Chinese debate, and explained how,
with tut consulting a human being but Mr. Gibson, he had
for a fortnight before the debate came on placed his motion
on tee table of the house, and yet he was accused of a
factims coalition to overthrow the Government. There
was a great question involved in this, which the people of
this country ought to take very much to heart:—" Do you
want the members of the House of Commons to look after
your interests and watch the expenditure, and to guard
you from getting into needless and expensive wars ?
(Yes.) Well, but you are not going the right way to work,
it' what I learn in your newspapers is going to be verified in
the course of the election, far I ant told that those mem-
bers who joined in that vigilant care of your interests, and
voted according to the evidence before us on the question
of that war, are all to be ostracised—sent into private
life—and that you are going to send up other men—(No,
no)—to do what ? To look after your interests ? No! to
go and do the humble dirty work of the Minister of the
hour. (Loud cheers.) In fact, that you are going to con-
stitute Lord Palmerston:the despotic ruler of this country."
(Cheers.) Tint who was Lord Palmerston that they were
to invest him with this power :—" When I want to know
what a man is I ask—What has he done ? Lord Palmers-
t rtt has been fifty years in Parliament—(Fifty.two)—fifty-
two years in Parliament. Well, he has belonged, I be-
lieve, to every Government excepting one during those
fifty years. (Laughter.) I remember the Times newspaper,
which spent aboat fifteen years in trying to blacken his
reputation, and is now polishing him up every day—(loud
laughter and cheers)—and when it had said everything else
that was gross, vulgar, and vituperative about him, wound
up by saying that he had been boots' to every Adminis-
tration for thirty years." (Renewed laughter.) But what
has Lord Palmerston done for Reform since '3l ?—" In
December, 18.53—little more than three years aco—Lord
Palmerston belonged to the Ministry of Lord Aberdeen.
Now, Lord Aberdeen was considered a very liberal man ;
we were all deluded with the idea that Lord Palmerston
wan the great chamnion of democracy. and that Lord
Aberdeen was always the friend of despotism. I was not
taken in by that, but a good many people were. Well, but
what did Lord Palmerston do in December, 1853. when
Lord Aberdeen's Government was ptepnring a new Reform
Bill, to be brought in in the session of 11451? Lord Pal-
merston left Lord Aberdeen's Government because he ob-
jected to that modicum of Reform that was then proposed.
Well, what has he done since? What has he done th:s
very session? Why, he has opposed everything that can
bear the mere semblance of Reform : he voted against
Locke King's motion for a ten•pound country franchise,
which formed part of the bill of 1854; he has opposed
even the 40s. freehold franchise for Scotland, if you may
believe the Lord Advocate of Scotland, who is in the Mi-
nistry, for he hes gone down there, and announced that
the Government are opposed it." And vet members were
called upon to surrender their independence and freedom
of thought and action to such a Minister as this. Lord
Paltuereton's was the only policy put forward to the coun-
try. But Lord Palmerston was not content to offera passive
resistance to Reform. He voted and spoke against every
measure of reform introduced into the house. Rut then
it was said his foreign policy was T.iberal. Every act of
Lord Pelmerston's foreign policy was known to him ( Mr.
Cobden), and he would defy " any human being to show
an instance where anybody on the face of the earth had
been happier or more free in consequence of Lord Pal-
merston'a foreign policy." Upon what grounds, then,
were the people of England called upon to place their con-
fidence in Lord Palmerston ?—" NVltat has he done? We
are told he carried the Russian war to a triumphant con•