The Express.
London, England, 1868-11-19 00:00:00

LATEST ELECTION MOVE3LENTS.

MR. GLADSTONE AT PIUISTON.
Yesterday afternoon Mr. Gladstone addressed
sates blase of between 1,000 and SAO persona in the
Cern Exchange, Preston, in support el the eandidature et
Lad Martiagten. Lord Hastiness weimieent ;as were
*be Lord /Vedas* Oneedials, Lord Edward Boweed.
and Mr. J. F. Leese, the two latter gentlemen being the
annesershil candidates in the elegies for Priam Mr.
Alderman GOOD/11 presided.
Lard HAINUOTON delivered an able speech explanatory
of his political sentiments; and bearing especially on the
Irish church questieu.
Mr. Citanseoss met with • perfect ovation, in the
course of which he shook hands warmly ;with
Lord Fdward Howard. In the worse of • brief
and eloquent address the right honourable gentleman
said :—This great controversy, gentlemen, is now far
advertised towards its Woe. In a sulfite& of words,
it is somewhere raid, there is venation of spirit. I have
often myself, gentlemen, suffered vexation of spirit from
• multitude of words; and I am afraid, if the truth be
tell, I beveoftener still inflicted it. But now, gentlemen,
yen need set be afraid as to this election. Two days of
the electiou have already passed, and for the present that
election i. the subject that absorbs all others. You already
know that it was =idle hope on Sloped of our opponents to
redeem ourmajority of Piety, • number by which this year
will be ever memorable. (Hear, bear.) What regress
have they made by way of diminishing that majority
(laughter.) It is true that they have bad their local vic-
tories ; bet we do not look so mesh to this or that victory
as to comparing the sum total. (Cheers.) Assuming
the met of the elections to boas they have hitherto been—
that wiajor.ty of 60, instead of being reduced, is Increased
veil newly ton majority of 100. (Cheers.) The liberal
ratty has arrested the conservatives from time to time in
• tamer of policy that would have been the ruin of the
country, and all that they now my when challenged en
that pelisy is, that the conservatives of the pretest day
are not the same es the eouterratives of former time.
Well, gentlemen, that is • sorry, miserable amass for
them now to make—turning round from those who
have preceded them in their path of polities, and ender
Ivories to permede you that the Ethiopian has changed
his skin and the leper his spote, in order to induce you to
return them to parliament. We acknowledge that our
oppsnents have achieved some local victories. But how
(A voice, " By bribery !") Now, gentlemen, I always like
to begin by confessing our own sins before we find fault
with the sins of others. The coirservatives have achieved
• good many of these local victories through liberal die-
union. These things are • scandal, and are exposing
us to the just reproaches of our enemies, but
at the same time it is only fair to recollect that what they
indicatinfundismentally is this, the exuberance of liberal
strength, and some I am afraid of the victories of the
conservative party are gained by the use of means
tebeers)—tbat have been rather too publicly indicated.
I will not speak of Preston, because I have not the know-
ledge, but as to that shameful }Beckham circular, cn
which I for one have done and will do my best to stamp
immortality cf disgrace, I yet live in hopes that it
may attract a notice from the new parliament more effec.
teal than convenient to those who have bun its authors.
And, gentlemen, most of all has been effected by the un-
true and ludicrous pretence that as we, forsooth, propose
to disestablish and disendow the church in Ireland, we
are therefore full of intention to disestablish and dinendow
the church of England. We have shown that the
existence of the chtuch of Ireland aggravates a religious
controversy. And here, gentlemen, I must toll you that
some weeks ago I made a speech at Wigan which I hasped
aid prayed would have been before this time contra-
dicted. I quoted from the speech of the present Arch-
bishop of Armagh the language in which hesitated that if
the protestant+ left Ireland, the country would have to be
governed by the sword and the gibbet. I did hope that by
this time we should have received some information to the
effect that 1 had quoted an inaccurate report. I quoted what
was worse than that—the pamphlet of a clergyman in the
Noah of Ireland, who stated that his parishioners had
left him because he objected to the practice by which the
house of God itself, and the holy table in that house of
Ood, are covered from time to time with orange flags, the
symbol red national strife, and the menririal of civil war
and bloodshed. But there limbos° no contradiction; and
bete I have within the last few days a case with respect
to power of feeling in the town of Enniskilleu--•
small town where Roman catholic, form • con-

sideralle portion of the constituency—(hoar, hear)—
I am told that on the fifth of November an orange flag
was flowing from the spire of the parili church, and Clot
tot), tunes wore rung on the bells. (Shame.) Those
hells, gentlemen, which one of the greatest poets of madam
timer, Schiller, an ornament to Gonuan literature, has
chant, d in an imam: tsl ley, known, I have no do Ibt, to
many of you, wherein be describe-4 the sweet function of
the ha, that its music floated on the air to call together
the penile of Cod to the Imam of God, there to forget
their strifes and quart ser, and kneel together before thealtsr
of v ace— (loud applause)—those bells are profaned
smiler tle influence of orange faction to be the organs of
tLe y swims of mankind, and to pro.laim now in 1868
ttat the strife of POO years ago should never he forgotten ;
that its eml.ers and ashes should be stirred up from ti nu
to time, that discoid between the various mull of her
Majesty's subjects may be made eternal; and then, for-
rootb, we are to be told the effect of this Irish cherub
establishment is to mitigate the asperities of religious con-
troversy. Gentlemen, these things arc absurdities, but
there is one thing that is behind the church establish-
men; behind the land question —it is that principle of
religious, civil, and social ine muddy, of which these are
after all, the signs and symptoms. The Irish people,
gentlemen, are gathered together, as we are gathered
together in this hall. We are on the platform, you on the
floor. The protestants in Ireland of the Irish church are
on the platform, the presbyterians and Roman catholic
are on the floor. The preebyterians are in a position of
compromise, bemuse a certain amount of pay is given
to them to disarm their hostility, but the Roman
catholic of Ireland, and I believe, a large portion of
the presbyterians along with them, never will be content,
never ought to be content— (cheers) —would be less than
men if they were content, would be unworthy of follow-
citizenship with you if they could be content until
that boon of religious equality is granted freely, until
this monitor evil of ascendency is struck effectually
to the ground. I em rare my constituents, as they
have done, and ought to do, won't mieundenstand
me *or take it as an offenes when I ray what I know from
long experience in parliament, what I have felt with pro-
found conviction during all the preparations of this
election, what I know now us a matter of Suet since the
returns of two days have begun to flow like a tide into my
hands— (e.heers)— that the program 4 this country
in the direction of liberal measures cannot by possibility
be arrested. (Cheers.) Nothing eau be more deplorable
than when only members of the mistourecy show a ten-
dency to fallaway from the popular cause. We have had
acme two or three losses even during She present election
—laces of men who, if their weight be counted by the
millions they possess, it is an enormous weight indeed ;
but, gentlemen, notwithstanding these lames, the bulk of
the liberal aristocracy stand firm, and it is neces-
sary for the welfare of the country that they should
stand MIL Well now, gentlemen, no family has •
better right to commendation thus the family of which,
next to his distinguished father, my noble friend is the
ieyresentative. (Cheers.) tio through the length and
breadth of Frigland, go north, go south, go east, go west,
and you will find that wherever there is a battle of truth,
Les doer, and justice to be fought there is a Cavendish to
fight it. (Cheers.) We have gone past the. stage of tho
ntroversy j the storm of battle roars around us from
amid the tumults of the south ; I am bailing to you of
the north. I hail to you that the men of South West
Lancashire have, to • great extent, already done their
duty, and it is their intention next week to do their
duty in the county election. What will you hail
hack to me Y I beseech you to hail back to
me by votes that which you signify to me by
your voices in this great hall. Nail back to
me that my noble friend, the man who has
been faithful to the people, will find the people faithful
to him, and that you are determined, in conjunction with
us—indeed leading the way before us, and setting us the
example—not to be excluded from the representation of
your county, but on the contrary to add, net • mere
soldier, but • leader to that united phalanx, which, with
steady step and resolute heart, is marching forward
towards the speedy consummation of the triumph of
justice and of truth. (Cheers.)

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