The Express.
London, England, 1868-10-16 00:00:00

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LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. 16.

MR. 311 LL AND MR. BOUVERIE.

IT must be admitted, we think, that Mr. Bor-
-SERIE has the better of Mr. MILL in the little cor-
respondence between them relative to Mr. CHAD-
lynx's appearance at Kilmarnock. The truth is
that the reasons at which Mr. MILL hints are far
more weighty than the reasons he states in full.
" In regard to the matter of sowing dissensions
"among the Liberal party," he tells Mr.
Boxrvnut, who had charged him with doing
this by his recommendation of Mr. CHAD-
WICK to the electors, " I could say a great
" deal which I am sure would meet with
" sympathy in the advanced portion of it
" at least." A man cannot be judged only
by his votes, and it is impossible to deny that
Mr. BOCVERIE has not always exerted the infiu-
enoe which naturally belongs to a politician of
his standing for the good of the Liberal party.
We hold, therefore, that any one who disputes
Mr. BOUVEItIIf a right to represent a really
Liberal constituency is perfectly justified
in contesting his seat. It will be for the electors
to decide whether their former representative has
forfeited his claim to their suffrages. Mr.
MorTeasz's inability " to understand how the
" great objects of the Liberal party can be
" achieved if dissensions and divisions are to be
" promoted among them by those who are pro-
" raiment in their ranks," we entirely share; but
we can hardly regard it as a safe point for him to
raise. For the ground on which Mr. MILL elects to
rest his defence there is much less to be said. lie
waives the question whether Mr. Borvenis is or
is not a genuine Liberal, and justifies his inter-
vention on behalf of Mr. Csianwmx on the
score of his personal merits. His position is.
" that it is much to be desired that every con-
" stitueney should consider, not merely whether
" a man will do to represent it, but whether he is
" the best man to be had." This theory can only
be maintained by the aid of two sweeping qualifi-
catiosis. In the first place it ought only to apply
to cases where, for some good reason, the consti-
tuency wishes to part from its present member.
Buppoaing the electors of Kilmarnock to be
dissatisfied with Mr. Boy-ream on political
grounds it is certainly " much to be desired"
that they should transfer their support to the best
available candidate. But Mr. MILL's advice, if
taken in the broad way in which ho offers it, would
turn a general election into a game of puss in the
corner on a great scale. Every constituency would
be scrambling for the few foremost men in
the party to which the majority of the voters
happened to belong, and there would be no longer
any securitythat long and steady service in Parlia-
ment would meet with its due reward. The
most consistent Liberal would hold his seat by the
sufferance of all the members of his party whose
names might be more popular than his own.
Granting, that in some respects, Mr. Cmsnwicx
has not his equal in Europe, it would surely be
pomade to find a seat in contesting Which ho
would be fighting the common enemy; or, at worst,
displacing an unknown friend. We say this,
it must be remembered, on the hypothesis that Mr.
Bonvekies career has been such as to command
the confidence of the Kilmarnock Liberals, and an
argument put in this form implies no opinion as
to the truth or falsehood of the assumption on
which it rests. The other limitation we should
append to Mr. MILL'S statement is that some re-
gard should be paid to electioneering tactics. If,
for example, there are two constituencies, either
of which can return an eminent Lils•rul, while
one of them can return no Liberal who is not
eminent, it will obviously be desirable that the

eminent man in question should sit for the latter.
Otherwise the result will very probably be the
return of a Conservative, when, by judicious
management, the seat might have been saved
for the Liberals. A practical consequence of
this consideration is that doubting electors
should go for advice in these matters rather to the
recognised party managers than to individual
members, however distinguished. Mr. MILL'S
opinion upon the abstract merits of a candidate
will always deserve serious consideration. But

upon the merits of this or that candidate in refe-
rence to this or that constituency we confess that
we would rather have Mr. Gum's.

THIEVES' NOVELS.

BULWILIeII " Paul Clifford," and Anwswoads's
" Rookwood" and "Jack Sheppard" (in the
former of which Dick Turpin was a prominent
figure), set the fashion for thieves' novels,
and infected the literature of the humbler orders
with a taint of romantic felony. Mr. Thome'.
" Oliver Twist," though dealing with the same
elements, had no such influence, because it repre-
sented Saffron-hill life in its tree colours and
natural repulsiveness, and was totally devoid of
that false hue of heroism, gallantry, adventure,
and enjoyment which belonged to the other pro-
ductions. It cannot be questioned that Mr.
Aussworre's brightly-tinted and sentimental
chronicles of the ride to York, and of the doings
of Jack Sheppard, have done incalculable
mischief, not only by their own action,
but by the numerous imitations to which
they have given rise. Not very long ago
a boy was examined at Worship-street on a
charge of theft from his employers, and it appeared
that ho was in the habit of reading "Tales of
Highwaymen, or Life on the Roads," and other
books of a similar character. This week, in the
story from Newbury, we see the same evil
influence at work. We arc probably not as-
suming too much in taking it for granted
that " Captain Hawk" has been seduced into
a criminal career by the vile works ho has been in
the habit of reading. He had a trade by which
be could have supported himself, and he was of
" harmless appearance "—that is to say, he was
not a born ruffian. Tho specially dangerous ope-
ration of these tales of felony is that, by a delibe-
rate falsehood, which the authors know to be
such, they create a romantic ideal, calculated to
satisfy the vague love of adventure and aspiration
after the heroic which possesses many youthful
minds. The feeling is not altogether a bad one;
but the writer of felon fiction deliberately directs it
into the foulest of channels, and stimulates it into a
morbid and criminal passion. Some of these stories
actually contain elaborate arguments, seeking to
prove that respect for law is a mere convention-
ality, invented for their own selfish advantage by
well-to-do hypocrites ; and the foolish lads who
read this species of literature are led to think that
idleness and marauding arc the height of noble-
ness. Sciimeea's play of The Robbers is said to
have infected half the youth of Germany with a
bandit mania; and some of our English authors
seem to have produced a similar effect. The evil,
however, is becoming too serious to be left without
a remedy.
--e

As Mr. GLuncroNs has been likened to the
Devil, we must not be surprised to find Mr. MILL,
by imputation, a minor demon. Mr. P. MERRICK
Holum, one of the Conservative candidates for
Southampton, has addressed a long letter to the
electors of that borough to explain his views
on public affairs. In one part of it he says :
" I must once more cite the high autho-
" rity of Brnxx, who says what is singularly
" relevant to the matter under consideration—
" ' Nothing can be conceived more hard than the
" heart of a thoroughbred metaphysician. It
" comes nearer to the cold malignity of a wicked
" ' spirit than to the frailty and passion of man.'
" Mr. JOHN STUART MILL, despite all his learning
" and logic, might do well to meditate on this."
When Tory candidates begin to look into their
libraries for quotations by which to describe the
"hearts" of their opponents, they are in stress
alike of wit and of taste. But they illustrate the
term—" the stupid party."

Tnz GINERAL ELECTION.—We have reason to
believe that the writs for the approaching elections
will be issued on the 11th of November. In this
case the borough elections will take place on
Monday and Tuesday, the fah and 16th, and
the county elections on the 18th and 20th.