The Express.
London, England, 1866-08-29 00:00:00

the favour with which the scheme of oonfetleratior;

has been received by the must eminent steam-
men in the mother country, and the cordial satisfaction
evinced throughout these provinces at the prospect of •
political union with those who are already so nearly con-
nected with us by ties of interest and friendly intercourse
agree in enoouraging the hope that we are about to enter
upon a new era, wherein, by the favour end blessing of
mighty God, the British colonies of North America will
become a great, powerful, and a ealthy nation, cleaving
the closer to the parent state, because of the freedom we
enjoy under the beneficent rule of our beloved Queen.
Notwithstanding the absorbing interest which has nature/1y
attached to grave constitutional questions connected with
the safety, protection, and future government of the
Canada*, the attention of parliament lies boon directed to
various othermeasuresof minorimportance for the improve-
ment of our municipal system, the fostering of native in-
dustry, and the general advancement of our materiel pros-
perity. The Code of Civil Procedure for Lower Canada
has also received the approval of the legislature, after ma-
ture consideration, by a select committee of members of
the legal profession from that section of the province. The
number of bills, both public and private, which have just
been submitted for your Excellency's sanction, will testify
to the zeal and assiduity with which the legislature has
fulfilled its responsible duties during the present 1101111011.
I have now the honour to present for your Excellency's
acceptance a bill, intitutled an Act for granting. to her
Majesty certain sums of money required for defraygthd ear
thin expenses of the civil government for the finanyear
ending on the 110th day of June, 1867 an for other pur-
poses connected with the public service.
To this bill the royal assent was signified in the
following words :—ln her Majesty's name, his Ex-•
cellency the Governor-General thanks her loyal
subjects, accepts their benevolence, and assents to
this bill. After which, his Excellency the Gover-
nor-General was pleased to reserve the following
bills for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure
thereon :—An act to postpone for a limited period
the issuing of writs for the next election of members
of the Legislative Council—assented to Bth June,
1868. An act to authorise the apprehension and
detention, until the Bth day of June, 1867, of such
persons as shall be suspected of committing acts of
hostility or conspiracy against her Majesty's person
and government. Act to protect the inhabitants of
Lower Canada against lawless aggressions from
subjects of foreign countries at peace with her
Majesty. After which hie Excellency the Gover-
nor-General closed the fifth session of the eighth
provincial parliament with the following speech :
Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council,
Gentlemen of the Legislativp Assembly, I have
much pleasure in releasing you from further at-
tendance in parliament, and I observe with satisfaction
I the large amount of important businesa, both public and
private, which you have transacted Wiring the 114:111i011.
The completion of the Code of Civil Procedure in Lower
Canada is a permanent memorial of the ability and in-
dean, of those who devised and carried the project into
execution, and cannot fail to be highly advantageous to
those who live within that portion of the province. By
the anti for amending the laws relating to municipal
institutions and improving the mode of assessment in Upper
Canada, the municipal system of that province,
already admirable, will be further cortolidated and
improved. It must be a source of satisfaction to
you to feel that the credit of the province
will be strengthened and her commercial operations will
be extended by the changes; which have been made in the
duties on imports and other financial alterations, tending
to reduce the cost of liviug in Cowie. We may conk•
dently expect that the effect of the tariff which von have
adopted will be to provide for the public wants without
opening new sources of taxation, and to increase the avail-
able resources of the counb7hy enlarging the markets for
theiudustry. of the people. The establishment of telegraph
connection in the portions of the dominions of our Queen
situated on both aides of the Atlantic wean has been
hailed in Canada with feelings of the utmost satisfaction.
The success of this great undertaking cannot fail to ad-
vance the progress of civilization, to extewl the operations
of trade, and thereby to promote the peace .end prosperity
of the world at large.
Gentlemen of the Legislative Assenibly,—l thank you
for the iiberal prov Won you have made for the public service
of the current year. It shall be my object and that of my
advisers to administer your grants so as to secure at once
economy and efficiency. I am particularly gratified that
you have enabled me to make provision for dome who have
suffered by the loss of relatives, or have been wounded dur-
ing the late attack on the province. This act is a just
tribute on your part to the patriotism of the men on whom
devolves the defence of the province, and will prove to the
survivors that they do not serve an ungenerous or ungrate-
ful country. The votes for purposes of public dehisce are
on a scale which will enable the nm.ent to improve
the efficiency of the volunteers in armaruent, equipment,
and drill, and no exertions shall he wanting to apply your
grants with effect in each of these particulars.
Honourable Gentlemen and Gentlemen,—l njoiee that
you have completed your part of the plan for the union of
the colonies of British North America, and I shall not fail
to transmit to the Secretary of btate for the Colonies, for
presentation to her Majesty, your address on this subject.
In bringing to a close the last sonion likely to be bold
under the Act for the Union of the Two Canada', I congra-
tulate the parliament which that law called into exist-
ence of the retrospect afforded by the events of the last
ureter of a century in this province. You eau mark during
that period the firm consolidation of your institutions,
both political and municqml, the extended settlement
of your country, the development of your internal re-
sources and foreign trade, the improvement and aimplilito-
don of your laws, and, above all, the education which the
adoption of the system of responsible government has
afforded to your statesmen in the well-tried ways of the
British constitution. The same principles, the application
of which has been attended with so much advantage in the
smaller union, will be the guide of your course in the
larger sphere of action on which you are now about to
enter, and I fervently pray that the blessings which you
have hitherto enjoyed may be given in larger measure to
that new nationality of which you will form a pert, and
the dimension% of which will entitle it to a high place
amongst the powers of the world.

SOCTItAMPTON, AL'OUsT 28.—The North Ger-
man Lloyd's steamer Hermann, sailing to-morrow (Wed-
nesday), at 11 o'clock, for New York direct, takes 130
first-class and a large number of steerage passengers ; also
a full clugo, Including English gold coin from London to
the value of 62,000 i. sterling.
Mr. Laing, M.P., visited Wick on Saturday,
and called in the coarse of the day upon a number of his
more influential constituents. It has not yet been
annonnoed whether he is to address a public meeting of
the electors, and give an account of his recent dnp if
parliament, ea he did the other day in EirkwalL Perhaps
the cool reception which be met with at the bands of his
countrymen an Orkney, where Le was before bighlytbought
of, has bad the effect of deterring him from presenting
himself before the electors of Wick— who, there are indi-
cations to make ns believe, will give him a very different
reception from:abet which they accorded him on his appear-
owe amonpt them in 1832.—Scoterson.

''

JOHN BROODEN.

nitIGINAL GOLD CHAIN MANUFACTORY,
OR
16, lIENBJETTA-STAKET, COVENT-OA/IDM

JOHN BROGDEN'S 18-carat GOLD CHAINS.

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD GUARD CHAINS.

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD ALBERT CHAINS.

JOHN BROODEN'S GOLD BROOCH CHAINS.

BENSON, J. W., by Special Appointment to
KR H. the Prince of Wales.

BENSON'S CLOCKS, Manufactured by Steam
Power.

BENSON'S ILLUSTRATED PAMPHLET, 2d.

BENSON,OId Bond-street andWestbourne-grove.
Steam Factory and City Show Booms.
SS And GO, Ludgate-hill.

A FTER WHAT I—After Mellon's Promenade
11 Concerts, EVANS' to sup. We shall meet there.

ghe erpreWS.

TO CORRY., r 0 YOF.N T 3
amities:mote Intended for "The Express," London Evening
must be at the Odice, 10, Bouverie-street, by Two
r'ric on the day of publication.

PRINCESS'S.
Ten EVININO, THE HUGUENOT CAPTAIN. Messrs. Vining,
and G. Honey Misses Neilson, Augusts Thomoon, and Mn.
ling.—And QIILET LODGISOB.

BRITANNIA.
TIM E►lirXO, THE WIFE: A TALE OF MANTUA. Mews.
Reynolds, Drummed, and Parry ; MIN Miles.—Mr. Evans and
Miss Rosalind : Miss Lydia Latimer ; My IL Macarthy and Mr. C.
Woodman.—And THE MUTINY AT THE NONA

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
IMs DAT —Morning. 31i. 5Gm Afternoon. 4h. 113 m.
To•Mosaow—Morning. 412. Sem Aftelllooll, 412. 55m.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 29.

WE seem separated by more than four-and-
thirty years from that political Elysium in which
the freemen of a borough elected the members,
and " every Mayor had the right to nominate a
" friend as a freeman, whether that friend was
" resident or non-resident." This is the pleasing

reminiscence with which the Town Clerk of Tot-
nee
began his sketch of the electoral history of
the borough. It was ruthlessly swept away, how-
over, by the Reform Bill of 1832 ; and as the
power of creating voters, at least in its former
integrity, no longer existed, the representatives of
the borough had to acquire the art of manipulating
those already in being. Or, to speak more accu-
rately, one of them had to do so. Totnes is a
close borough as to one of its members, and an
open borough as to the other. The Duke of
SOMERSET is lord of the neighbouring manor of
. _ .

Bridgetown, and he " has influence" in Totnes.
If we may judge from Mr. PRESSWELL'S evidence
the candidate who has the SEYMOUR interest,
and who usually bears the SEYMOUR name,

has no need to do anything save announce

his intention of standing. V It would be
beneath his dignity to pay money for a seat
which is his own by right of inheritance.
No voter with any proper feeling would think of
interfering with a state of things so completely
according with the order of nature. Upon the
best man for the second seat, however, there maybe
room for difference of opinion ; but it ought
never to be carried to a length beyond that to
which Mr. PRESSWELL is himself prepared to go
when he tells the Commissioners, " I have gene-

" rally supported the Conservatives, but I voted
" for Lord SEYMOUR whenever he was a candi-

" date." The House of Somea.ser is Liberal ;

and this, perhaps, has induced tho Conserva-
tive 'section of the constituency to be more

...- .
than -usually eager to secure the second
seat fur a candidate of their own way of think-

ing. Local jealousy has added strength to poli-
tical partizanship. In the opinion of the Town
Clerk this feeling first manifested itself in the
election of 1832. It was a contest for one
vacancy only, and it ended in a tie ; but the
Liberal candidate spent, Mr. PRESSWELL has heard,
from 1,5001. to 2,0001., while, though the Con-
servative candidate spent less in the gross, he
made up for his parsimony by giving 8001. for
seven votes. In the next election the Conservatives
were more fortunate, and till 1852 Lord SEY-
MOUR and Mr. BaufwiN were regularly returned,
the one by influence, the other by bribery. In
1852, however, the Liberals wrested the second
seat from their opponents, but only by an enor-
mous outlay. "he voters," says Mr. PRESS-
WELL, " asked fabulous prices, and, I believe,
" received as much as 301., 501.,70/.,andeven 801.
" for their votes." From that time the Conserva-
tives have always been in a minority, probably
from the fact of the voters requiring more
money to induce them to vote against the Duke
of Somali:fur than would be wanted in order to
secure support for a candidate of like views
with him. There is the more reason for
accepting this statement of Mr. PazsswaLL's
as substantially true, because " the people have
" got to such a state that they don't seem ashamed
" of the bribery that is going on, and talk of it
" very freely." In 1869 the Conservative candi-
date retired, " because the voters were such great
" gluttons they could not tell how much money
" they wanted." Who supplied all this enormous
outlay--estimated by another witness at 50,0001.
in fifteen years—Mr. PRES.4WELL is unable to say;
he is only sure that none of it came from the
Swtmouß family.
Here, therefore, we have pretty clearly drawn
out for us the state of parties in Totnea. High
above the storm and tumults of common life
towers the Olympian presence of the Duke of
SOMERSET. The succors of the candidate who has
his interest is absolutely certain. He can manu-
facture votes pretty much at his own pleasure,
and if he disdain to avail himself of the privilege,
it is probably only because he is conscious that
he has no need of them. The position of the
other candidate is far less enviable. If he be a
conservative, his part in life seems to be to fight
against a power which moulds everything after its
own fashion. The Duke of Souzassr, indeed,
has no influence over the votes of
his tenants that is to say, if the
Duke were to become a Conservative, he
would not expect them to become Conserva-
tives also ; but then " they are put in because
" they arc Liberals," and in the event of a change
taking place in the opinions of their landlord they
"Id " doubtless be turned out, and the new
fnants would be Conservatives." If, on the
sr hand, the second candidate be a Liberal, he
of course this influence on his side, but this
not seem to amount to much more than a
isaion to spend as much money as he likes. In
state of things as this we cannot expect to
such agreement between the accounts on
If we listen to the Liberal witnesses
shall believe that Totnes slumbered in purity
lace until the Tories threw the constituency
nfeaion by endeavouring to wrest the second
from the hands of its natural owners. Of

lt would -"
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such a al
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each aid,
we shall
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