The Express.
London, England, 1860-05-01 00:00:00

THE 01.CNIANINTL WATERS.

ALCOCIE •eked tie Chief Commissioner of Work•
whether he would have any objection to allow • certain
■rber of Thames wabennen to have boats on the Serpen-
tine mad other w•ten ia the royal parks during the summer
maths.

Yr.COWPER said the only condition required of per-
sons who wished to ply with boats on the Serpentine was,
that they should take out a license, which was given them
as moan as their bade were ucertaioed to be in proper
ardor, end the bostmea were shown to be amble of =wig-
fag them. The water in Victoria park was not well fitted
for beating. It was so shallow that boats would stir up the
mud, mad would
wtu= make the water disagreeable,
which was sot at offensive. In fact the only water
is forks • was adapted for the purpose was the
Serpistme. (Hear, bear.)
-AM Hilailiffa BELL.

)717:074—eiLitlerey had analysed portions of
the eamiCheiN of the great bell ; bat the result al his
mares wee not decisive as to the chemical oomposition of
6th/risen of it.
THE REFORM BILL.

The ohne on the second reading war resumed by
Mr. BENTINCIE, who said the tone of the noble lord's
(Lewd 1. Resasell's) speech the otherevening essapologetic ra-
ther Ora argumentative; and the apologies of the noble lord
did rot senate be very graciously received. The noble lord
tried to error the house by insisting on the fact
that Owe was no agitation on the 'object ; and the truth
was that the sole lesson for introducing the bhp at
all lay in the noble lord's own political neseaskies.
The noble lord did not actually threaten the
home with fire and sword, but somehow they were
always reminded of the fact that Nottingham Castle
was burnt, and that thaw was once a greet foe at Bristol.
(Hear, hear.) This reminded him (Mr. Bentinck) of the
dory of the boatswain of the old school who found him.
self oa board • ship where there was a very strict and
rightninded captain, who had announced that swearing
=not the men was strictly forbidden. The boat-
swain was perfectly unable to give orders without
the expiring which he fancied rendered them more ins-
sad, so being debarred from his habitual form el
cap when he addressed a culprit he used to 'ay to
him " your little eyes, you knows what I can."(LaOgitter.) That appeared very much to resemble the
suppeeerd threats of the noble lord, which seemed always
to operate like a caution not to investigate any rowan of
reform too closely. Then the noble lord was always
lag upon upoe one point, namely, that there was to be a set
meet of this great question. Upon what possible rounds
could he entertain the slightest hope of settling this ques-
tion by the measure he proposed! Hundreds and thousands
of intelligent persons at present did not enjoy the franchise,
but hen was • bill which did not introduce a single element
of intelligence. (Hear.) Amongst other things, the noble
lord prepesedto inn/teethe oumberof metropolitan members.
Now he (Mr. Bentiock) wished to spnik of those hen.
gentlemen with that respect to which individually they
were entitled ; and when he considered who they were, he
freely schnowledged that by their absence, personally, the
house would be • loser. But he was bound to say that,
taking them collectively, they were extremely objectsonable,
not to rise a stronger word. (" Hear, bear," and a laugh.
Let the heave bear in mind the repeated occasions on which
it had been n to bring down • considerable number
of members to the house in order to put an end to some
marrow roetropolitan jo or the other. Individually be
did not blame those hb on. members ; they had be
option, and were quite right in supporting the
interests of their constituents. But before the
house begin to reform other people, be thought it would
be quite MI well it it were to begin by reforming itself.
He contended that the franchise in the counties ought to
be lower than in the boroughs ; for the former would give
a better claw of voters, at the same nominal franchise, than
the latter. In support of this view he would cite solemn
authority than Adam Smith, who said that no trade re-
quired man knowledge and experience than agriculture,
and that roost of its operations required more skill than
any mechanical trade. This was as authority which would
not be treated lightly by hon. gentlemen opposite. Oa
what ground, then, were the rights et the rural districts to
be denied them When they came to discuss the details
of the measure he hoped to have the support of all rural
representatives in claiming for those district, their due
share of the representation. (Hear, hear.) Of MS oases of
bribery through which members had been unseated, the
whole had occurred in boroughs, nut one in counties. (Hear.)
The inaccuracy of the etatiatice on which the ball was based
had been abundantly proved ; even the omens was nearly
ten veers old ; and the figures drawn from it were not at
all reliable. To proceed with the discussion on such
grounds was • perfect waste of time. The gnat blot and
' error of the Reform Bill of 1832 proceeded from the party
spirit which then prevailed ; it behoved the house to take
care that no such influence marred the present measure.
He believed that the only two members who sincerely sup-
ported this bill were the noble lord himself and the hon.
member for Birmingham. They had both anticipated
serious consequences from the rejection of this measure—
(heor) hut he did not believe that the working classes, with
the intelligence they now powered, were likely to be misled
by the representations of hungry placemen or disappointed
demagogues. (Hear, hear.)

Mr: WALTER said in his opinion, the real question
to be determined was the degree in which those classes
whom they proposed to enfranchise were fit by their intern-
=°their panties, and their respectability for the prin.
.e, (Opposition cheers.) A good deal had been said
about distrust of the working clams. So far from enter-
taining any distrust or alarm of the working classes, he de-
clared he could not go to bed in peace if be possessed any
such feeling. (Hear, hear.) But the lower claims in all
ages and countries were Sable in periods of excitement to
be misled and humbugged by popular orators. he
'
He was as little of an alarmist as any man living ; he '
lived that property and life were not subject to alarm in a
country where truth, and justice, and honour prevailed;
but he should rather live wider the government of a
second Cromwell than under • government where
such sentiments and opinions as those of the
hon. member for Birnungharn prevailed. (Cheers.)
It was painful to him to be obliged to speak in such • way
of an hon. member of that house, who had • seat in It
for so many years, and who was so great an adept in the
process of parliamentary self.defesce. But he knew his
remarks were just, and he believed they were not uncalled
fur on an occasion like that. He bad only one further re-
mark to make. The noble lord spoke feelingly the
other night of the period since the passing of
the lint Reform Bill, and he referred to the va-
rious measures of improvement and amelioration which bed
taken place since then. The noble lord enjoyed the angu-
lar happiness of living to witness the growth, maturity, and
success of that great measure, but it could hardly be ex-
pected, in the course of nature, that he could bear his
testimony to the success of the measure he was about to
launch into the world. This bill would affect, not the
noble lord, but them and their posterity; but the reputa-
tion of the noble lord was dear to every member of that
house. He therefore trusted that they would do
their beet in committee so to amend and im-
prove the bill as to send it into the world in
such a shape that it would not be a disgrace but an honour
to the noble lord —not a curse but a Weems; to the country.
Lord J. MANNERS said the noble lord had the other
night enumerated various beneficial measures which had
passed since the Reform Bill, and the noble lord would led
the house to conclude that those measures had been • con-
sequence of the Reform Act. With quite as much Punks
and logic he (Lord J. Manners) might attribute the destrue-
tion of West Indian property to the terrible rebellion in
India, the Russian war, the Chartist insurrection, and the
Irish mortality and exudua, to the measure of 1831 (Hem)
But even if these beneficial effects followed from the
Reform An, what was the conclusion which a man of good
sense would draw from the fact ? Was it not this? In
heaven's uamedeave well alone. Allusion had been made to
the bill of last year. No one could deny that
that bill, by the various franchises which it pro-
pond to confer, was intended to bring within
the pale of the constitution fresh and healthy
elements from the property, intelligence, and industry
of the country, which probably aye adwOuld have bad a
most beneficial effect in deterring the lower orders of voters
from being corrupted as they were at present. But the bill
of the noble lord was entirely silent on this subject, and he
could not believe it was • correct exponent of the mature
views of the government on this question. Well, tins, ae
the bill of last year sought to raise the working man to the
level of the franchiae, so the direct and only effect of the
bill of the noble lord was to lower the franchise to
the leveled bribery and corruption. He believed the country
would not blame the noble lord or her Majesty's government
for withdrawing the bill. He was certain that on that (the
opposition) side of the house, no taunt and no insinuation
would he hurled against the motives which guided the noble
lord. It would be the patriotic course, and from that side
of the house the noble lord was safe from all reproach.
Would the country blame the government ? The country
ems not apathetic, nor was it eager, as the bon. member for
Birmingham appeared to think it. The country was
anxious and nervous, lest through ignorance, throuso want