The Press.
London, England, 1857-01-10 00:00:00

THE NEAPOLITAN AND TURKISH AMBASSADORS.

Then the representative of Naples, of whom in
charity I will say nothing. Then the Turkish re-
presentative, a clever Turk. Of course he was not
admitted into the church. At the same time, you
could not look at him without feeling that he was the
representative of an effete and worn-out nation.

LORD GRANVILLE.
He was the representative of the moat powerful
nation in the world, yet plainly dressed. When I
saw him standing amid the decorated group around
him I was reminded of the lines of Burns :
A king ran make a belted knight,
A duke, a lord, and a' that ;
But an honest man's shone his might
A utan'a a man for a' that.

Then, casting the eye across the cathedral, you
saw the distinguished generals of the Russian army
—Todtleben, Gortsohakoff, and others—and, just
beside the Emperor, Count Orloff. I believe he was
in the palace when Paul was assassinated, and bas
been the favourite of three great emperors. He pos-
sesses quality of heart and hospitality for which I am
much indebted.

At the moment of coronation, Sir Robert Peel de-
clared that the Crown fell from the Empress's head

60

and broke in pieces, while tho ermine slipped from
the Emperor's shoulders to the ground.

After the coronation came the faes, among them
the grand review, at which—

Many of the Russian soldiers bad helmets with bullet
marks ; but I suspect they must have been of their own
making, or their heads would not have escaped at the same
time.

Then came the feast of the people, eaten up by inis-
take at the rehearsal. The lecturer here, by way of
illustration, alluded to another banquet:—

There is an account of an enormous feast somewhere in
the Bible, which I looked for and couldn't find, hut which
must. have been very like the one 1 beheld at Moscow.
After a description of his feelings as he gazed on
the field of Borodino, Sir Robert Peel concluded his
address with the following very original remark for
an Englishman:—

I would close my observations with this sentiment, which
cannot fail to be that of every one who hears me ;—great
as Russia is, when I contemplate the power of my own
country, I would ten thousand times sooner repose in the
lap of Britannia the humblest citizen in the land than own
the allegiance or bow the knee to the power that sways the
sceptre in Russia.

tact.carrtsgaitt

ELECTORAL INEQUALITIES.
Letter VIII.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.

Sir,—This is my last letter. My subject is almost
exhaust() I : indeed, once the fact was established
that a county population of eleven millions returned
only half as many members es a town population of
eight millions, the case was at an end so far as argu-
ment went. All that remained to be done was to
exhibit the injustice in different points of view. and,
by turning it over and over, to attract the attention
both of those who suffered from the wrong and those
who profited by it, so that the former might be in-
cited to insist on redress, and the latter shamed into
the surrender of their unjust monopoly. Now, the
wrong done is so glaring that I cannot suppose I
have altogether failed in both my objects. But even
if I have, the question is sure to force itself on public
attention in another form.

All parties now agree that the Reform Bill must
be overhauled—that, whatever other system may be
adopted, the present will not be allowed to remain.
Lord John Russell's finality measure must go the
way of French constitutions. Now, in this inevitable
break-up the case of the county constituencies cannot
b. 3 overlooked, as it is demonstrably the most flagrant
injustice in the system. I know well every attempt
will be made by the tribe of Whig place•holders and
place-hunters to distract public attention from this
abuse, by a violent attack upon innocent anomalies,
and by schemes for the extension of the suffrage—by
education qualifications, by vote by ballot, itc.; but
the Conservatives will not a second time lie driven
off the scent. Anomalies will be left to take care of
themselves, it being plain that their removal would,
if anything, be a relative advantage to the country
party ; nor need they fear a more popular appeal to
national sentiment. In these matters they may
safely take the Whigs on their own principles—
taking, however, anxious care that these principles
lie honestly carried out. But if once these modifica-
tions shall have been conceded to the Whigs, to their
great surprise and disgust the Conservatives will
hark back to their main chase, and say,—Gentle-
men, you have now a tine popular franchise ; let the
privileges which belong to the franchise—namely,
the right of electing members—be equally distributed
among all the voters. Don't say to a man that
because he is an agriculturist he is to have only half
a franchise, and that another, because he is a shop-
keeper, is to have, not only his own franchise entire,
but also the half of which you have robbed the
farmer. Give equal privileges to both, else your
liberality is fudge ; and the resources of fudge were
exhausted in 1832.

But as it is likely that some change in the fran-
chise will be mooted, it is as well to be prepared, and
therefore 1 throw out a scheme of my own for
ventilation.

I propose to have one simple qualification, viz.,
payment of a certain amount of income tax (say, for
example sake, 51.), with additional votes on an
abruptly increasing gradation to those paying
higher,—an additional vote to a men who pays 2W.,
three votes to one who pays 1001., four votes to one
who pays :100/. income tax. The advantage of this
franchise is, that while it is the simplest which can
be imagined, it is thoroughly representative both of
property and numbers. To he sure the very poor
classes would have no votes, but we must stop short
of universal suffrage ; and the prospect of rising into
the voting class would be an incentive to industry.
Neither can I see my way to the practicability of an
educational qualification : but an educated man, if
worth anything, will soon have to pay income tax.
This is the first part of my scheme, and has nothing