The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-22 00:00:00

Witt Crprego,

the examples of France and America, where modes
of balloting hare been adopted which may :cot ensure
*cavity. We admit that a rondo of balloting which
dues not ensure secretly is only a cloak for corruption
and undue influence. But we are convinced that
modes of taking the ballot which would ensure
seemly may be devised; we believe that the ballot-
box invented by Mr. GROTE would be found per-
fectly efficacious; and we believe that secret voting
is a out, quo non of sincere %citing.
It is alleged that the principle of secret voting is
imperfectly understood, and nut generally popular.
There may be some truth in this, but if the practice
is good in itself it is no at gement against its adop-
ti:m. We are free to admit that the ballot was not
a popular demand iu England before BENTHAM ex-
tended his views from mere judicial to constitutional
reform, and identified himself with the radicals. Wo
arc free to admit that the populace added the cry of
ballot to the cry of universal suffrage and annual
parliaments. less because they understood and appre-
ciated the principle, than because it had been assw
cWted with these objects. We are also free to admit
that many profess to advocate the ballot, not because
they are convinced of its importance, but because
they hope to gain popularity by so doing. All these
admissions show the necessity of enlighte • g public
opinion on the subject of secret voting. but nut that
secret voting is objectionable.
The theory of secret voting is this :—The elector
ought to give his vote acconling to his cotewientious
conviction that the candidate he votes for is the
ablest and most trustuorthv individual in the field.
To ensure his doing so, he ought to be liberated
from all temteations of fear or of selfish sinister
inthwnee It he votes openly, be is liable to
be int' 'dated by sonic more powerful indivi-
dual, or. it may be, by an ignorant and exasperated
mob. If he votes openly, he may be induced to give
his vote with a view to being rewarded by money or
patronage—by direct payment from the wealthy, by
custom from his poorer neighbours. But it' no man
can know how ho votes, he need fear no vengeance
fur voting so as to displease any one ; and as he has
it not in his poser to show that he has earned a bribe
by his vote, no man can be induced to pay hint either
directly or indirectly. But to ensure secresy of
voting, more is required than a mechanical device
that will prevent any man from letting others know
how be soles. In a small constituency there are
always a number respecting whose votes no
doubt can be entertained, and by deducting those,
a pretty shrewd guess may be given as to how the
rest voted. Again, if it is left free to men to show
how they vote, they may be compelled by intimi-
dation, yr seduced by bribes, to vote openly, and in
fir s way tlw aim of secret voting will be defeated.
It is therefore requisite that secresy in voting should
be compulsory not permissive; and that the consti-
tuencies should be so numerous as to defeat all at-
tempts to conjecture how any individual has voted.
c are quite prepared to hear a clap-trap objec-
tion urged against the proposal to make secret voting
compulsort . The old cry of an Englishman's man-
liness and right to speak out his mind freely will be
raised. But this braggadocio sentimentalism is mere
wordy eapour. Every mat is free to express his liCe•
tinients, to argue in favour of any one or other prin-
ciple or man; but when he actually comes to vote,
he should be placed in a state of seclusion that will
liberate him from all temptations to vote otherwise
than according to the dictates of his sincere convic-
tion that the candidate he supports is of all others
the best qualified to discharge, for the general bene-
fit, the important functions of a legislator, tax-im-
peser, and controller of the public expenditure. Next
to prayer the act of voting for a person upon whom
is to devolve such high and responsible duties, is ono
of the most solemn a man can be called upon to per-
form: and like prayer it ought to be discharged with
none but Coo and his own conscience to witness
how he performs it.

TO CORIMPONDP.STB.

la teen. t EdMem of" Ilea rtgertyd. eadashehad *de rune evestra*.
a ta.ettr,ala pabUmbei every Turley ma Eriday abed, fa um
foe ;Awl.
4drett,• -wee talueded for "The Exprava,"Lavelas Emile" eider,
).u.;id at the Oils% le, Ilegyarodeamet. W Two Oblast es the
day of palifestied.

mom vrAFF.it AT LONDON BRIDGE
Tots Day —ll.onllitz. 311. Oft .Afteressa, 3.. 9m.
Toassaarnr—lllormag, N. rM, sk. 43m.

LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 22.

SONE twenty yearn ago, Birmingham was esteemed
cese of the strongholds of reform. lilts it ceased to
libe No? The recent conduct of its members is rather
equivocal. It may be said that Messrs. Mesrz and
SCHoLtrILLD are not Birmingham ; but as long as
Binnitiglium allows its clown repreeentatives to
' play Gest and Loewe with the reform movement, Bir-
• =lngham has no right to be surprised if people at a
1
distance infer that it sanctions their shuttling.
A reform meeting was convened at Birmingham.
The members were ins ited to attend, and accepted
the imitation. But when the day anieed, both sent
%apologies; they had been acting in error; they had
belieeed the meetiii; to hose originated in a local
Inuirenunt i they had learned that it was instigated
'by parties at a distance ; and they could not in con.
'science countenance foreign intervention in such
',mat tees. This from Mr. Wit aleat St ilot.r.FtLi.n,
isirho was • member of the Anti-Corn-Law Li ague !
From Mr. Mt ST/., who was a party to the prove-
gandiet reform agitation which ended in the burning
keit' the Bull Ring!
1. Neither Mr. Mt see nor Mr. Wm. Settout mu)
;hare been regarded as Cies:ems in reelect of do-
lquence. Poseilily they may aspire to the reputation
of Cietaitie.s. by emu.ating the orator who would
. never follow anything that other men begin."
People do say that it is curious to note how luke-
warm Birmingham is becoming to reform since Lon-
don and Nlancliester were in the field before it.
Birmingham, they say. was zealous enough when its
union could claim priority in point of time ; firm-
lingham was pleased to see other towns follow in its
wake: and Birmingham will stand aloof, mikes
other towns wait for it to give the signal. We do not
I believe that this is the twee; but we cannot disprove
i the imputation till Birmingham itself furnishes us
s pith the means of doing so. This it can du by a
rpurely local demonstration, and by inviting the at-
-1
tendance of its members, who would then have no
suliterfuge to palliate their standing aloof. Ilad it
,only been Mr. NIUNTZ who declined to attend the
,meeting, it would hare been attributed to his pro-
' eerbial eccentricity ; but Mr. SetioLeteirw's refine'
has a suspicious resemblance to Lord Jotts: Itts-
-1/111.1.es evasion of the proffered visit of the deputies
from the Manchester Reform Conference.
I A very different spirit animates Manchester. The
Manchester reformers took part in the Conference
which was attended by deputations from Leeds,
London. and other places. And the Manchester
reformers have since held an independent meeting
'of their own. Judging by the speeches delivered
and the revolutions pawed at that nweting. we should
infir that its ohjecrwas to give expression to the
l views and wishes regarding parliamentary reform
'which predominate in the locality, with special
Ireference to the local defects in the system of repre-
sentation. The resolution moved by Mr. BRIGIIT
elates exclusively to the state of the representation
of Lancashire. fa there any reason why Birming-
ham should not. in the same manner, protest against
the inadequate repn.sentation of the populous and
important district of which it forms the centre?
' The general principles of electoral reform advo-
cated in the petition adopted by the Manchester
!meeting arc : An elective qualification bused on
occupancy and liability to the poor-rate; the exten-
sion of the 495. franchise to the United Kingdom ;
‘the grouping of "small and neighbouring boroughs"
'when practicable into one borough, and the merging
:of isolated boroughs in the county constituency • the
:allotment of the seats in parliament thus suppressed
to 'emulous towns now unrepresented; the Ballot;
land no property qualification fur members.
A measure. embodying these reietisitions, would
!undoubtedly be a material gain for the people. In
'Scotland no property qualification is required for
meinhers, and no bad consequence has been found to
result front thus havir.g the choice of the electors
free and unlimited. Front all that we can learn of
the working of the system which groups several
small boroughs into one electoral district, the limited
'adoption of the practice in England recommended by
the Manchester meeting appears to be judicious. In
the Avr district of boroughs the two sea-ports of Ayr
and I'm-Me, in the county of Ayr, are
.grouped with
three inconsiderable towns or village's, in the county
of Argyle. There is little intercourse between the
Avrehire and Argyleehire boroughs; no community
of interests, no public opinion common to all.
In Ayr, Irvine, and (perhaps) Camptelltown, politi-
cal opinion does exist ; but when parties are pretty
equally balanced in these towns, the casting veto
es thrown into the hands of the villages of Obaa
and Ine yearn where the electors an: eulely influ-
enced by petty local considerations, or the Highland
propensity tu " do the ;aird's bidding." In the same
sway the voice of the popular, intelligent, and enter-
prising community of Kilmarnock may he neutral-
wed by that of Rutherglen, a mere suburb of Glas-
gow, or l'ort Glasgow at the bidding of a few ship-
owners, or the decayed boroughs of l)umburton or
Renfrew. In some of the 11 elsh districts matters
are even worse ; the small boroughs that compose them I
.voting as they are bid by some neighbouring borough-'
monger. The consequences of such a state of affairs
are self-obvious. %Vhere three or four small seats of
industry are immediately contiguous there is a com-
munity of interest, and a common public opinion,
and in that ease a circle t imbruing all of them may
fent a trustworthy electoral district ; otherwise the
grouping system can at best only substitute a
heouglomongering oligarchy fur one despotic
loroughmungm
To a ratepaying qualification we are decidedly
friendly: un the understanding that liability to any
rate. held or general, is to confer it. It is a partial
recognition of the principle that every taxpayer
ought to have a voice in the election of those who
have the power to impose taxes on him; it is an
approach to the realisation of the constitutional
theory that taxation and representation go hand in
hand. And of still more importance is the effect
that its adoption might have upon registration. It is
of the utmost consequence that the register of elec-
tors should embrace every qualified voter, and no
one else. If the framing of the register is left to
official authorities, there is • constant risk of its
being tampered with. If it is left to depend upon
the exertions of the individuals qualified to vote,
many are apt to omit urging their claims; and asso-
ciations fur the purpose of registering are almost
certain to degenerate into electioneering clubs. The
expellee .4 registration is increased, and unfair prac-
tiotv resorted to, in order to put sham voters on the
rill, and keep real ones off. If liability to rates
were adopted as the electoral qualification, the local
rate-hock would he a self-adjusting register, in which
every elector would be sure to be inscribed, without
any additional expense. This would r far to break
up thow affiliated canvassing agencies which are
the great source of electoral corruptions.
The utility of the proposal to extend the 495. fran-
chise to the United Kingdom is less obvious. In
England and Wales there is a 40s. franchise; and
we have advocated, to the best of our power, the
efforts made of late to turn it to account for the
practical extension of the franchise. But in Scotland
it dotal not seem easy to engraft this franchise upon
the peculiar forms and modes of hind-tenure which
exist there; and in Ireland there would be great
danger in resuscitating the peculiar kind of PS.
franchise which was abolished at the ern of catholic
emancipation. Where a 495. franchise vitiate, we
would make the must of it; but where it dos not,
we would hesitate to introduce a qualification which
the change is money values and social relations has
rendered in a great messuro an arbitrary, if not a
fictitious. one.
To the declaration of the Manchester reformers in
favour of secret voting wo attribute great import-
ance. We could have wished, indeed, that they had
adopted the term "secret voting." which indicates
the end to he attained, instead of " vote by leillot,"
which indicates only one mode by which it is pro-
posed to attain it. The adversaries of secret voting
puzele and perplex the public by fallaciously mixing
up doubts as to the efficacy of the means with objec-
tions against the principle. They keep harping upon

BISHOP BACRYT, the Diocesan of the inhabitants of
Frame. has very promply justified our opinion, that
small was the security protestantism had in him
against the intrusion of Mr. BENNETT into that
benefice; for, to the detailed and specific objections
which the parishioners urged, first to the patron, and
then to him, against Mr. BENNETT's institution, the
Bishop has returned a general reply, that he could
not behave so " uncourteously to Lady BATH" us to
reject her presentee, whom he believes to have " a
firm and deep-rooted attachment to our own church."
He, therefore (overlooking the reasons, quotations,
and arguments of the clergy. and laity of Frome),
" adheres finely to his intuition" of instituting Mr.
BENNETT; censures all unseemly opposition, and
hopes that the Lady Bovril's nominee will be received
with " kindly feeling."
Nothing, perhaps, more strongly or more painfully
illustrates the anarchical condition of the Church of
England than this reply, when brought to bear upon
cognate circumstances. It shows that in speaking of
that church some of its bishops understand and refer
to things essentially different and even antagonistic.
Thus, though Mr. BENNF.TT has been compelled to
resign a benefice in the diocese of London because in
its Bishop's judgment his teaching and practices in-
volved infidelity to that church, he is about to be in-
stituted by Bishop BeGoT into a benefice in the dio-
cese of Bath and Wells, because that prelate believes
Mr. BENNETT " has a firm and deep-rooted attach.
ment to the Church of England." Again,
though in conformity with the law of the
land, Archbishop SUMNER instituted and in-
ducted Mr. GORILAM into the benefice of Brarnp-
ford Spekc, Bishop Pult.Ertrrrs, in violation of the
law of the land, continues to refuse ordination to
candidates, licenses to curates, and institution to
presentees who hold opinions on baptismal regenera-
tion similar to Mr. Goititast. And, though to his
metropolitan Bishop PfitmenTrs has sworn obe-
dience, Archbishop SessNER has, in the presence
of the clergy of the diocese of Exeter, been excom-
municated fur holding heretical views by that
prelate.
It is quite idle, then, to say that the Church of
Englund of Bishop BEostriEtat and of Bishop BAGOT
are one and the same church; it is quite obvious
that the church in the diocese of Exeter is something
very different from the church in dioceses not so
heavily afflicted; and it is notorious that the church
of Primate Seitstra is the very antipodes of the
church of Bishop Pitti.teeTrs. The question, then,
for events to decide is, how lung a church so rent by
its bishops can stand ?
When a low church presentee is to be teased and
worried, and tormented and plagued, Bishop Pittit.-
Forts has shown us what powers and opportunities
a prelate has by law to do it. When a disorderly
high church priest is presented by " a lady of
quality "to a good living,llishop BAGOT is now slow-
ing as how very unimportant are his ill reputation
and his heterodox opinions and the objections of the
parishioners;—how courtesy to Lady BATH must
override all such considerations as these.
When the LORD CHANCELLOR presented Mr. Goa
HALT to Bishop Plind.eirers, nothing would or could
satisfy him. MAJOCCIII on the QUEEN'S trial was
not subjected to a cress-examination half so severe as
the one Bishop PHILLPOTIN made Mr. Goeffssi un-
dergo. Nor time nor place was allowed to interfere
or interrupt the mental torture. Mr. Goatasst was
dragged two hundred miles away from his home, his
books, and all assistance, to be put to the question.
And after being scalped intellectually with all the
malice of a red Indian he was rejected.
How differently Bishop limiter treats Mr. BEN-
NET?. Ile pushes amide the offensive extracts from
his books; he does not require any attendance; ho
thinks of Lady BATH; Hatters and praises her ; and
"is satisfied" Mr. BENNETT is not attached to the
doctrines of the church of Rome.

after Mr. Goali.tx was instituted, Bishop
Nays publicly requested the churchwardens of his
prish to spy and to inform against their pastor.
Whilst before Mr. BENNEer is instituted, Bishop
lltame represses "unseemly opposition," and be-
speaks "kindly feeling" fur him. Thus true it is,
even where episcopacy is concerned, that one man
is hung for looking over a hedge, whilst ;mother is
allowed to ride quietly away with the horse he has
stolen.

But, to come to closer quarters with Bishop
B wan-, we should like to know if all the formalities
which the law requires have preceded the institution
which he is about, out of courtesy to Lady Hint. to
,• give Mr. BENNETT to the benefice of Frame. In
11770, the then Primate of Canterbury issued a 'otter
of dirtvti.m.., to be observe I by all the mottragan
bishops of his province, which are still acted on; and
touching institution to a benefice, is the following :
The presentation to be tendered to the bishop, sad to be
left with him to be considered.

THE EXPRESS, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1852.

The orders of deacon and priest to be exhibited to the
bishop, according to the 39th canon.

drew the articles, and soon after the Juhn Bull was
started, and the government support withdrawn
from the "respectable" and transferred to the
" blackguard" paper.
Hut Canning and his friends did not acquiesce in
this return of the dog to its vomit or to its wallowing
in the mire. Though ministers as a body had ceased
to be propagandists of rational and liberal opinions,
ministers as a body were compelled to defer in their
measures to the growing intelligence of the public.'
The timid eclectic liberality of the Broughams, nor-
ners, and Russells, and the more decided liberality
of Mr. Hume and his half-dozen adherents in the
House of Commons, told mightily out of doors, and
reacted on the legislature. Canning, Iluskisson, even
l'eel, in some points availed themselves of this to
liberalise the ministerial policy.
A mighty change came thus to be effected in the
interior of the tory party itself. Its more enlightened
leaders repudiated the violent, servile, and irra-
tional doctrines that had been fashionable during
the war. The working classes, influenced partly by
suffering, partly by the spread of education, partly
by the missionary efforts of whigs and radicals, fell
off from it. A struggle ensued between the partisans
of the Castlereaghs and Sidmouths on the ono side,
of the Cannings and the Iluskissons on the other.
The whigs and educated radicals c ime to the rescue
of the hitter, and the result was the triumph of
Canning. and the formation of a semi-liberal party
on the basis of sympathy with continental and
American freedom, and an improved commercial
policy.
After the death of Canning the weakness of his
colleagues again threw the reins of government into
the hands of the bigoted tories. But public opinion
had become more powerful, and the Canning-
ite and whig alliance continued unshaken. The
practical sense of Sir Robert reel and the
Duke of Wellington, whom personal predilections,
more than opinion had kept in the tory ranks, recog-
nised the necessity of concessions. Financial refiirm,
according to the views of Sir Harry Parnell, WWI
inaugurated. Catholic emancipation was granted.
The dull obstinacy of the true tories revolted against
their rational leaders, as it had done in the case of
Canning. The Duke and Sir Robert attempted to
compromise; but the malcontents in their own ranks
were implacable, the liberals became bolder and
more urgent; the (;rey ministry was formed; and
the Reform Act appeared to have filially broken, dis-
persed, and submerged the last relics of the writs.
The personal ambition of Sir Robert Peel enabled
them to rally. He taught them by professing ac-
quiescence in the new electoral constitution, by
dropping the odious manner of torics' and by adopt-
ing some articles from the liberal creed, to construct
a conservative party. How its ranks came to be re-
cruited by wing deserters, and how it came to be
tolerated by independent liberals who had faith in
the necessities of Peel's position, have been indicated
in my first letter. The repeal of the corn laws was
the signal for another revolt ir. the tory camp.
It is with the character and position of the tory-
protectionist party, which :wilted from that insur-
rection that 1 have now to deal.

Now, the 30th anon directs—.

No bishop shall katiesta any to a Unifies who hath been
ordained by say other bishop, except he first show Dim hi■
' letters of orders and Wag him a sufficient testimony of his
former good life and behaviour, it the bishop shall require
it; and, lastly, shall appear upon due examination to be
worthy of his ministry.
Now. Bishop ll.vuor states that he is "satisfied"
with Mr. BENNETT ; but how " satisfied ?" Canoni-
cally, " upon due examination" or the presentee, or
irregularly out of courtesy to the patron ?
Again, Mr. DENNErr has been objected to both by
the clergy and laity of Frume. Ilas, then, Bishop
Bsoirr required "a sufficient testimimy of his for-
mer good life and behaviour ?" if he have, the form
will run thus :

We, whose names are hereunder written, testify and make
known that the Itov. J. W. E. BIN N ITT. Clerk, late of St.
Barnabas, in the diocese of London, having teen previously
known to u+ for the space of three years last past, hash
dating that time lived piously, soberly, and honestly ; nor
bath he at any time, so far as we know, held, written, or
taught anything contrary to the doctrine or discipline of
the Church of England. In witness, &c.

And the practice is that such a certificate shall
bear the signatures of three beneficed clergy, and that
their characters shall he attested to by their own
bishop. Ilse this been done in Mr. BENNErr's case?
If yes; the world ought to know who the bold men
are that have certified Mr. lIENNEtr never held,
wrote, or taught anything contrary to the doctrines
or discipline of the church of England.
l'reviously to this presentation, Mr. BENNETT
was nut a clergyman of the diocese of Bath and
Wells. Before, then, he can be instituted into a
benefice in that diocese, he must bring to Dr. Bmier
a testimonial from the ordinary of the diocese
whence he comes. This is required by the 48th
Canon, which says:

No curate or minister shall be permitted to serve in any
place without examination and admission of the bishop or
ordinary of the place having episcopal jurisdiction, in
writing under his hand and seal, having respect to the
greatness of the cure and the meetness of the party ; and
the said curates and ministi re, if they remove from one
diocese to another, shall not be by any means admitted to
serve without testimony of the bishop of the diocese whence
they come, in writing, of their honesty, ability, and confor-
mity to the ecclesiastical laws of the church of England.
Has, then, Bishop IltnatvrEt,n, who expelled Mr.
BeNxErr from St. Barnabas because of his ecclesias-
tical irregularities, given to Mr. BENNETT, going to
the diocese of Frome, a testimonial of his " confnrinq
to the ecclesiastical laws of the church of England?
All these are inquiries which the parishioners of
Frome have a rigkt to be informed on, and on which,
if there be aught defective or wrong, they can appeal
from their bishop either to the Primate or to a court
of ecclesiastical law. Perhaps, however, they would
not act so " uncourteously to Lady BATH r What is
their spiritual uditication to her ladyship " doing as
she chooses with her own?" Bishop BAGoT "is
satisfied." What more can the clerjy and laity of
Frome want ?

The most remarkable feature of this party is that it
has not one efficient leader who properly belongs to
or sympathises with it. The Herrieses and Gout-
burns are too out kr effective service. Lord Aber-
deen is compromised in their eyes by his coquetting
with liberal views. Lord Stanley is true to the tra-
ditions of " the great whig families," and holds but
loosely by protectionist views. Lord George Ben-
thick in like manner adhered to the traditions of
" the great whig families," and was a C. gito to
boot. His successor, Mr. Disraeli, if he has any fixed
opinions and principles at all, aims at persuading his
followers to adopt liberal views, but to express them
in language borrowed from their old tory
creed. Were any accident to shake his party
into power, it could find no men competent to
take office who could or would act upon its opinions.
The very first session would witness an insurrection
in its ranks, like that which drew Canning into an
alliance with the whigs, and twice drove the Duke
of AVellington and Sir Robert Peel from office.
The rank and tile of the party in parliament are
tolerably homogeneous. They are principally of the
landlord caste, with a sprinkling of ambitious but
not very capable lawyers, and the remnants of the
defunct West India interest, and the moribund
shipping interest. But their only bond of union
is the tnulitional sentiment of caste. They
hold together because they are for the most
part of the squirearchy, and believe in the
)as diciaosi of the squirearchy. But as the
streams of the Moselle and Rhine How for a conside-
rable distance in the sank channel without mingling
their waters, so the retainers of the whig houses of
Derby, Richmond, and Portland march in the same
ranks with those of the Pitt-made peers, both parties
maintaining all their hereditary incompatible perso-
nal prejudices and crotchets; and discordant opi
nions have found their way even into the tory camp.
They are all nominal protectionists, but a pretty nu-
merous section sees that protection cannot be re-
gained. 'they are all churchmen, but some
are of the o:d " high-and-dry " faith, some are
Puseyites, some are rank altvangelists or Orange-
men. The West Indians and shipowners have
been too often sacritictsl in emergencies to have
any faith in, or any cordiality fur, their allies. The
vague sympathies of landlordism are all that keep
the party together, and they are only powerful so
long as it continues in opposition in a negative state
of existence. Once in power, the internal discords of
the party would paralyse its action.
But though thus reduced to be a mere clog and
impediment on the wheels of the state machine,
there is little prospect of its numbers, and conse-
quently its power of obstruction, being diminished so
long as the electoral system continues unaltered. Tho
strength of the party is in the agricultural consti-
tuencies. The tenant-farmers are grumbling and
malcontent, at present, but that is the only show of
disaffection to the squirearchy; and it is one that
cannot be relied upon. The tenants at will are not in
a position to act independently if they were disposed:
they have not political knowledge sufficient to induce
them to act independently if they had the power,
and they have no leaders even though both the will
and the ability to revolt from the landlords existed.
As the numbers and power of the tory-protectionist
and ministerial party are pretty nearly equal in the
Ilouse of Commons, so the probability of this equality
remaining unaltered by any election under the pre-
sent system is very great. The former aresecure in their
counties; the latter in their few counties, their close
boroughs and the town constituencies in which timid
liberals and time-servers prepunderale. But though
both of these parties are more numerous than any
other party or connexion in the House of Commons,
each is numerically a minority of the whole house.
It remains, therefore, to analyse the ingredients of
which the various groups into which the Hooting
balance, which can give at any time a majority to
either, is composed, and the opinions, interests, or
principles which guide their conduct. Only from
such an analysis can it bo shown whether either
ministers or their rivals have it in their power to
extend the basis and increase the efficiency of their
party. AN EX-M.l'.

ITALY.
ROMAN STATES.

Our Homan correspondent, writing on the 14th
January, states that the French court-martial was
trying a Roman fur having killed one and
wounded two French soldiers. Police persecutions eon-
tinued on a large scale. Fifteen doctors hail applied in
vain to the Pope fur a remission of the tax on pro-
fessions. 'rho annual meeting of the English
Academy took place on the 12th.
Roman Consols have got up to 89 (Five per
Cents ), and the exchange upon London has gone
down to 87.