Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-04-27 00:00:00

GEORGE THOMPSON'S LECTURE.

A meeting was held, in the Concert Hall, last night,
tinder the auspices of the Liverpool Reform Club, princi-
pally for the purpose of hearing an address from Mr. George
Thompson, upon the general subject of Reform. There
was a very large attendance, the hall and gallery being
indeed completely filled. Among those on the platform
were—Messrs. J. J. Stitt, Charles E. Rawlins, Charles
Willmer, Charles T. Bowring, Francis Boult, Thomas Cope,
James Steel, Jas.' Robinson, Samuel Peck, Samuel Hignett,
Joseph Hughes, J. E. Thompson, C. W. Boote, George
M'Connal, J. G. Brown, Samuel Moss, and Joseph Pannell.
Mr. Willmer moved' that Mr. J. J. Stitt take the chair,
which was seconded, and carried by acclamation. Mr. Stitt
accordingly took the chair, amid loud applause.
The Chairman said : Gentlemen, it will be my duty, in
the first instance, to explain to you both the nature and the
object of the meeting this evening. It is a meeting of
Reformers (hear, hear), and the principal object of the
meeting is that which is stated in the circular convening
it—to listen to an address from George Tnompson, Esq.,
which will succeed certain other business, which will first
come before us. Gentlemen, I consented, some three weeks
ago, to preside over what was then considered one of the
most ordinary meetings, of the Liverpool Reform Club. I
certainly did not anticipate either the honour -and the plea-
sure or the responsibilities unavoidable from the position
in which you have been kind enough to place me this even-
ing. When I look around this meeting, and remember
the circumstances under which we are met, I think you will,
perhaps, pardon me when I say, that the friends and pro-
moters of the Liverpool Reform Club---that young, and I
hope I may add, promising institution (applause)---
could not but feel gratified when they saw such a
meeting as this, assembled on such short notice,
rallying, as the Reformers of Liverpool have always rallied
around the old standard. (Hear, hear.) I hope I may
take your presence here this evening as an indication of
sympathy with the objects of the Liverpool Reform Club,
and I am sure I may take it as the best answer that can be
given to that taunt, which has been so freely used of late,
that the people of Liverpool are apathetic and altogether
indifferent on the great question of Reform. (Applause.)
Those who taunt us thus freely, know little about English
history—they know less about English character—for a
greater mistake could not be made than to suppose that the
calm determination of Englishmen is really indifference or
apathy. Gentlemen, the circumstances under which you
are assembled this night are peculiarly:critical and important.
On the eve of perhaps one of the mightest military struggles
that has ever upheaved the nations of the continent ; at a
moment when' every hour seems, deep with the
fate of nations and of empires ; at a juncture when
the voice, the mighty and powerful voice of England,
and when I speak of England's voice, I mean not those
ventriloquistic (I hope you will excuse the expression)
enunciations of foreign ministers and foreign officers,
(Applause,). but I mean the plain straightforward unmis-
takable voice that is heard from pole to pole, the voice
of the great English nation. I say at a moment when
that voice ought to be heard in the councils of
Europe, the advisers of her Majesty's ministers of
the crown have thought fit to deprive- our gracious
sovereign of the advice and the council of her
parliament, and have seen fit to plunge this country into the
turmoil of a general election. (Applause.) Let the respon-
sibility of that azt rest upon those who have wantonly been
guilty of it ; but let us, the people of England, the citizens
of England, not forget the duty which that act imposes
upon you. Gentlemen, I presume there is scarcely a-man
in this room, thanks to the liberty of the press in this
country, who did not look with some anxiety and some
concern for the long deferred ministerial explanation upon
our foreign affairs ; and those of you who do so, may
remember the terms in which our foreign affairs was alluded
to; you may remember how the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer, in parliament, speaking in laudatory terms of the
conciliatory conduct of Austria, and how he spoke in
'damagingc, terms of the conduct and policy, and the motives
of our brave little ally in the Crimea—Sardinia.
(Applause.) The only home ; the only refuge of
freedom in the peninsular of Italy. And in the
other house -of parliament, you may remember how the
prime minister of England in his place spoke in significant
terms of the impossibility that there was in England looking
on with indifference at any alteration in the territorial
arrangements on the borders of the Atlantic. Gentlemen,
what did that mean?_- Was that a menace, or was it not a
menace ? Was it calculated to excite the exalted feelings
of those whose sympathies are with us,—(applause)—or
was it calculated, as far as it is an opinion, to damage and
depress those feelings ? Gentlemen, what is our duty in
these circumstances ? It is the duty, I hold, of the people
of England, now assembled upon another question, to
expres their opinion decidedly upon this, and say, that it was
for England to keep a strict and religious neutrality. (Great
applause.) I would consider myself devoid of the common
feelings of patriotism, were I not, upon this occasion to
mingle my humble and feeble voice with yours in a
solemn protest against all interference. You are nat for
England being thrown into the scale of despotism, whether
it be for the House of Hapsburg, or that of Napoleon.
(Applause.) Our sy.mpathies, an I know it, that your
applauses, do not lie in that direction. (Cries of " No, no.")
Let us have then neutrality, and let us have our shores pro-
tected against every contingency, and let us keep a position
of conscious power, which, when the time comes, will fit
us to be arbitrators upon the side, or in the cause of right.
(Applause.) Gentlemen, when we imagine what were the
circumstances, which could have justified the dissolution of
the two houses of parliament at this critical time, we see
the utter abhorrence, the total want of sympathy with any-
thing like real reform upon the part of the present Ministry.
They found that something should be done with
the question, and that it could not bear to be
postponed any longer, and they sit down
to prepare a bill. It must have been a sight worthy of the
graphic pen of Dickens, to have watched these gentlemen as
they
.sat down in their Cabinet to this reluctant task. Their
physiognomies must have been something like that " meta-
physical rook" which Mr. Dickens has described in one of
his books, whose countenance assumed rather a peculiar
shape, just before he is going to be shot. They did sit down,
and before their bantling saw daylight, even members of
their own party saw that it was so utterly insufficient, that
rather than be accomplices in such a sham, to their honour
be it said, they went out from the government, and washed
their hands of it, and made a clean breast of it. But if it
was considered quite insufficient for their ownparty, it was
considered quite sufficient for the House of Commons, quite
sufficient for you. I think we have reason to thank ourselves
that the House of Commons indignantly rejected it, and
having been indignantly rejected they have the audacity to
come forward and ask you to endorse what they did.
England will give an opinion on that subject quite unmis-
takeable. This, gentleman, I have thought, and I dare say
you have thought that, one essential feature, the sine qua non
in any Reform Bill, which could be acceptable to the people
in this country, namely, since the passing of the bill of
1832, such has been the progress, such the mighty develop-
ment of the industry and intelligence, and the spread of
education in this country, that a large body of sober,
thinking, industrious men of the labouring and artisan
class have sprung 'up amongst us, and entitled themselves
by every consideration to the possession of that advantage.
(Great applause.) Now, gentlemen, I can imagine the
utter bewilderment, and the utter disgust with which
such intelligent men as these have tried to unravel
the Chancellor of the Exchequer's ingenious statement on
the first night of the debate on the Reform question, I can
imagine how astonished they must have been to discover
that there could not be found, for the intelligent working-
classes, a single grain of wheat in all that chaff. (Applause.)
It reminded him of a game at catch-apple, and the Derby
and Disraeli cabinet might find that the apple would evade
their bite, even if they stretched their mouths as wide
as they could, and elongated their necks as long as
possible. (Laughter.) Let me impress upon you the
necessity of now speaking out, and telling the men who
come forward to represent you in parliament, that no
reform bill will be satisfactory to the people of this country
which does not make ample provision for admitting these
industrious classes, of whom I have spoken, to the enjoy-
ment of that right, which, I am sure, they will exercise as
intelligently and as independently as anyone could do.
(Applause.) He concluded by calling upon Mr. Charles
Edward Rawlins to move the first resolution,
Mr. C. E. Rawlins came forward, and said the resolution
which had been put in his hand he would read, which was
as follows :—" That, in the deliberate judgment of this
meeting, the Reform Bill recently introduced by Lord
Derby was delusive in its character, unjust and restrictive
in its provisions, and wholly insufficient to satisfy the rea-
sonable demands of the people. That it is also the convic-
tion of thi, meeting that no future Reform Bill will be
Iworthy of support in Parliament, or of acceptance by the
the country, which does not largely extend the franchise and
give security for its independent exercise ; and, at the same
time, provide for such a curtailment in the number of exist-
ing small constituencies, and such a re-distribution of seats
as shall amount to a just recognition of the increase of pro-
perty and population in the present large boroughs and un-
represented localities. This meeting would also record an
expression of its deep regret in the contemplation of the
present warlike attitude of certain Powers on the continent
of Europe, and of the imminence of a bloody and desolating
conflict---the extent and duration of which it is impossible
to foresee ; and while it has regarded with the liveliest
satisfaction the united efforts of all parties in the State to
promote an amicable adjustment of the question in dispute,
it would urge upon the Government the solemn duty of a
strictly neutral and pacific policy, and a scrupulous absti-
nence from all intervention, save such as may be calculated
to restore the sword (should it unhappily be drawn) to the

scabbard, and to secure to Europe and the world that
repose, without which it is impossible for-true civilisation
to advance." This, he said, was a very comprehensive
resolution, much more comprehensive than any speech which
he could possibly follow it with. The resolution stated the
ground upon which that measure of reform .was to be
obtained, which might be expected to appear,
from the principles which they held, wanting
in which the measure recently proposed by what he might
call the present government had met with universal con-
demnation. It staggered him in reading over that bill. It
seemed to him to be got up studiously excluding any of the
measures of reform sought by the public. The franchise
during late years had been unsatisfactory, and petitions had
been sent repeatedly to the House of Commons. Lord John
Russell, whose name they were not in the habit of con-
necting with the name of revolution, five years ago pro-
duced a bill in the House of Commons for the £6 franchise,
and Mr. Walpole left the Ministry because they would not
accept it. Lord Derby had the audacity to bring forward a
measure---a reform bill to the House of Commons, which
Made no provision for the difficulty at present existing in the
borough franchise. But, instead of that, he speaks of the
fair franchisement among doctors, magistrates, certified
schoolmasters, as if these, or most of them, had
not the power of exercising the franchise at pre-
sent. Lodgers were also admitted, but of a class so high as
to exclude poor men, however intelligent ; and last, but not
least, all parties who had £6O in the savings' bank. If that
were the case, every servant in London would, ere long,
manage to have £6O in the savings' bank. He thought, if
such a state of things were to come to pass, a groom would
come to 'a gentleman, and say, " Give me your place ; I am
a holder of £6O in the savings' bank, and I will vote at your
service." He had seen an advertisement one time, which
was, "Wanted, a coachman, six feet high, and a protestant ;"
but he thought, had this bill been carried, they would have
seen instead, "Wanted, a coachman, six feet high, with
£6O in the savings' bank." (Hear, hear, and laughter.)
It had been shown by Mr. Bright (cheers) that there
were no less than fifty-six small boroughs
in England and Wales, and 9 in Ireland, in all 65, with an
average of 300 electors in each, with the entire population
not exceeding that of this borough, which returned 96
members to parliament, and not one of these boroughs does
the government propose to disfranchise. At a former
period Lord John Russell proposed to disfranchise 18 of
them, and Mr. Bright in his speech at Bradford, proposed
to disfranchise 18 also, and the Times at one time in one of
its Liberal moments---but it soon forgot that---proposed to
disfranchise every One of them, and 34 in addition.
(Laughter.) And yet Lord Derby's government allows them
to take their seats every one. He asked how could the
government expect that such a measure as they-had brought
forward be acceptable to the country. It could hardly
be taken as a temporary settlement of the question.
He could see at least one grain of good
corn in the whole bushel of chaff which composed the bill.
He would not like to make any amendment on the resolution
which he had proposed, but he hoped some one would move
that the word ballot be inserted. He was exceedingly
happy to say that both the Liberal candidates for South
Lancashire, as well as Mr. Ewart for the borough (cheers),
were in favour of the ballot. When he thought of the
cases of intimidation in the present state of matters, he could
not but look with pleasure to what their elections might be
if they had the ballot. When Mr. Grote was speaking on
the subject of the ballot, and mentioned some cases of
intimidation, he was met with the cries of "name ;" he very
properly replied that their name was legion. They were told
that a vote was a trust, and so was the money in his pocket.
and no man had a right to dictate to him how he should
expend that money, and if a voter was possessed of ability
and honesty to exercise the vote with independence, that
was quite right, but, if he would not do so, who would then
oppose the ballot? They were told that, if they had the
ballot, they might vote, and afterwards tell a he ; but, as
matters were at present, a man was more likely to tell a lie
to himself, and do more harm to the country, than he would
do .by voting by ballot, and for what he considered right.
He was for every man doing his own voting. •(Hear, hear.)
The last part of the resolution referred to foreign affairs, and
he supposed they would endorse that portion of it as well as
the other. There was nothing in this war, that was per-
haps going on at the present time, which England
could be expected to take part in. The people of this
country had said that Austria had a right to Venetian Lom-
bardy by all law, human and divine---save that law, which
was most human and divine, to cast off the yoke of the
tyrant when they had the power ? The true position which
that country ought to take would be to see that this right
was not infringed upon. He might be told that Austria
had established treaties to put down dissaffection in all her
states, bat be held that it was sufficient for a 'nation to be
free,,and that she would be free. Looking to the war as it
stood, he had not much faith in the King of Sardinia, but
he had great confidence in the people, but he had best faith
of all others in Austria. He hoped that England would
maintain a dignified neutrality, and concluded amid
cheers, by observing, that if England would be to herself
I true, nought shouldmake her rue.

Mr. Boult said he would leave the first portion of the
resolution to be dealt with by Mr. Thompson, and confine
, himself to the second portion, namely, the question of the
foreign policy of this country. It was a question of the
utmost importance, and one on which the people should
make themselves heard in loud and unmistakeable terms.
He felt it a matter of no small congratulation, that this
question of foreign policy should be at last forced into public
meetings, and he hoped it would be heard on every hustings.
They
.had hitherto been quiet in this matter, and trusted
their interests in the hands of diplomatists and statesmen ;
had slumbered and slept, and .had often wakened to find
that war had been entered into without their authority. They
were like a body of shareholders who attended half-yearly
to look over the accounts, and awake some morning to
behold that it was all a swindle and a delusion. (Applause.)
He knew that it had been the fashion to be told scornfully
that they knew nothing about the question of foreign
policy. He did not agree in this doctrine. They were told
also that questions of peace and war were matters of the
Queen's prerogative and of her Majesty's government, and
that thev had nothing to do but to pay the bill. (Applause.)
He could agree if her Majesty's ministers would pay the
bill themselves and do all the fighting, themselves.
(Laughter.) They might then " play such fantastic tricks
before high heaven, and in the face of this world, as their
evil genii might dictate." (Laughter.) But the bills, when
they came in, were a little too serious. They found their
trade hampered and destroyed, with the preposterous
duties and taxes, from' the many squabbles they were
led into with every country in the world, and for what, they
could not comprehend. (Applause.) He said, therefore,
that it was high time if they paid the piper they should
choose the tune in this matter. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) Their plain duty was to keep out of the
impending struggle, to keep their hands clean of it,
although he was not a member of the Peace Society.
It- appeared to him to be very mnch a matter
of ambition and desire for fresh territory, and
on the other hand to get up the last step in
an ancient and uniinproving despotism as ever cursed
this world, He could not concur with the remark that it
was a question of two despotisms. The one claimed the
divine right of Kings, to govern wrong, and the other
sprung from the people.
A Voice : Ostensibly.
Mr. Boult : It is a despotism elected by universal
sufferage, and must necessarily receive an impulse
from public opinion, and if he had to cast his lot
in this matter, he would rather support France
than Austria by far. (Applause.) It was the least of
two evils. He was far from suggesting they should do so.
(Hear, hear.) But the speeches of Ministers in Parliament
were in favour of Austria. After some remarks in reference
to the Austrian treaty of rights and the Italian people,
which he said were no parties to that treaty, Mr. Boult
concluded by seconding the resolution.
The resolution was put to the meeting and carried.
The Chairman then said they had a gentleman gracing
their platform that night, whose name was imperishably
associated with the emancipation, and the amelioration of
the slave. (Applause.) A gentleman whose name was
equally associated in the memories of the British people in
the repealing of the corn laws. (Applause.) He then
introduced Mr. Thompson to the meeting.
gr. Thompson came forward, and was received with the
most enthusiastic cheering. He said, Mr. Chairman and
gentlemen, I shall not state precisely how long it is ago
since I was introduced into the world, in the good town of
Liverpool. (Cheers.) I will state that it is more than a
quarter of a century ago that I had the privilege, in the
town of my birth, to make one of my earliest efforts in the
cause of human freedom, by the advocacy of the great cause
of abolition of negro slavery. (Cheers.) Since that period
I have at intervals re-visited this town. It has always
been in essentially the same cause. I have for thirty
years attended public meetings of my countrymen,
and with few exceptions, they have, every one of them,
been meetings for the advancement of the great cause of
liberty. If any have been exceptions from that cause, they
have certainly not been meetings for promoting any adverse
cause. It was my privilege to see the cause of negro
emancipation triumph. It was my privilege to hear
William Wilberforce, just before his death, express his
thanks to God that he had lived to see the day when his
countrymen were willing to pay twenty millions sterling. to ,
achieve the ransom of 800,000 slaves in our colonies. If I
have advocated the cause of personal freedom, I have also
advocated the cause of freedom for those who labour to
exchange the fruits of their toil for the gifts of God, by
whatever country on the face of the earth they are grown.
(Cheers.) I have also ventured, within the last
ten or twelve years, to associate myself with the
cause which brings us together this night—the cause
of Parliamentary Reform. (Cheers.) My own
experience encourages me to hope that that cause will
speedily triumph. (Hear, hear, and Cheers,) The other

ves
causes to which I have referred have triumphed. Wilkerr„,.v
went up to his reward with the shattered manacles °f 071,
one million of those for whom he had pleaded. The n!.11,1
pro World,
of this country, in the extinction of the laws which
food to come to them from distant parts of the V,
accomplished one of the greatest triumphs ever achielT_lno4
any nation in the history of the world. Without vim! ,8
without the infraction of any law, with the sanction of the
moral and the religious feeling of the entire countrnestluol
obtained a victory over the consolidated landed inter
o,:ter
the kingdom ; and, having triumphed in that and th
crto
great causes, they may look forward with confideri,
the
obtain, by vigilance, by union, by temperate effQ
ero
object which they have in view to-night. ("e the
I quite agree with what has been said by vie,
preceding speakers with regard to the Reform
or rather the bill for the amendment of the represenyo"ta
of the people, recently introduced into parliament 13Y ogee
Derby. We have some of us heard of a playo
be
c r by
published announcing the play of " Hamlet" to °
formed with the part of " Hamlet" omitted. I atlPPl)s,,ern,
special desire—(laughter)—but the King, the :sowe
Ophelia, and Polonitts, in fact the whole dramatis Pc' op
omitted,' with the exception, perhaps, of The PlaKissiers-'
were admirably performed by her
whoaMjesty'sbl
(laughter)—and the Grave-diggers, were underta
Lord. John Russell and Company. (Laughter.).
toys
resolution which has been submitted to the meeting,
tO
evening, calls that measure an illusory measure• one
any measure you please, if you will only describe it "'chap
which is a mortification, a disappointment, a rne
an insult to the people of the country. It'f' this
raeli began his speech when he introduced ° f the
by stating that a necessity existed for the government
or and
day, by whatever name it might be called, to brill, this,
a bill to amend
.the representation of the peoP'° b bad
country in Parliament. He referred to two bills w.nl,,ateea
been brought before the House of Commons, but Wit;istiect
under peculiar circumstances. He alluded to three three
promises on the part of Prime Ministers, and t°:„ the
speeches delivered by the ,Queen from the throne
e'"g.os,
House of Lords, and said there was a necessity for tkioaelf
ernment, of which he was the organ, to bring forwarurooser
Reform Bill. But whence arose the necessity ? The
of the resolution, about to be submitted, referred to The a lie
franchises ingeniously contrived by Mr. Disraeli ; '"inter'
said, and said truly, that scarcely one of the parties,erabise,
ests in the State, whom the bill proposed to ernrtt the/
needed the boon which was offered to them, seeing t° 3f
the
either had the franchise already, or were, in virtue Of
position which they filled, able to obtain the fratofila
whenever they desired it. (Hear, hear.) But assaid the
that they were not already enfranchised, I ask, retort!
necessity for a Government Bill on the question 01,8 pP
arise out of any strong manifestations of feeling on
or
per
of the lawyers, or apothecaries, or schoolmasters,
sinners, or dissenting ministers &c., &c., &c. (Cheeof the
laughter.) Admitting that these are all interests „oriel
State---that there is a schoolmaster interest, an a" or
interest, an interest of graduates of our universities'?
&c., have these interests ever obtruded their clainl,sol
the people of this country, or gone to Parliamenk exseiti
single petition upon the question? They have not. Then ree
has grown out of a long series of partial or general s'l tile,
or demands for the renovation of the constitution of al
House of Commons. The first Reform Bill group singe!
circumstances. It is nearly a century ag,,,esf,
noble Duke, in the House of Lords, prepared rot 0"
of Parliamentary Reform, which went to an eVio
exceeded by any Reform measure at present hel°'„f 03,15
public of this country. At the commencement
century, we had men like Major Cartwright, %lea t'of
Francis Burdett, in his best days, and other inerh.stcs
talent, and some of them of station, proposing nieja•ela are,f
Reform, quite as extensive in their range as any
now before the country.. (Hear, hear.) It was vi3;3rs,'
upon ware--which prevented this country for man)" ;gofer'
its efforts to obtain a satisfactory settlement of the f peal
question. (Hear, hear.) When the halcyon daYs,,e„a bee 2,
returned, and after one or two questions which 70;
lying over, in consequence of the distraction 01
cos
attention, and the exhaustion of the public reserf.o,l,6l;
been met and settled, then the great question of 1 3-
lto .1
tery Reform was undertaken. I need not go 4
history of the struggle during the years 30, 31, and um
as tbos e v
et
am sure I need not bring to mind, so far ~ to ecl,
concerned, whose memories can carry them back' „(05,
period, the fact that although no parchment was ehri:se
no written compact was entered into between t'derst!ti
struggled in that cause, yet that there was an un jant`ie
ing then, that when the Reform Bill should hare ", to,
within the pale of the constitution those who weiridte4',4"
enfranchised by the provisions of that act, they so ~,iaaliA
and admitted, it was well known, through the P",icow,
they derived from the working classes of the count bad
not forget in justice and in gratitude those who d the„
tributed so greatly by their majestic demeanour Fax eo"'
inflexible resolution, to obtain the measure which 'coo
c(Carhreieedr:.)theloVoeulnl,trnyatruerlaalpslyedenoonugthh,ewsuhbe
jneetthe me3sstatehie.
into atot
quiescence. Sir, let us not forget our obligations t° ,t ste
Let us not forget to-night, that we owe the loesoc- to of
of the country on the great question of Rei°:„eastice,s t
carrying of the preliminary measure, the great """ ft '''.(l
1832. It renovatad the House of Commons- 5101
into that house the men who have ever sin' ti°oooi
been among its most valuable and patriotic 11100 05.4
To that house we owe---and the house convened tifbe t!fe
occasion, and confining ourselves exclusively t°,...„e1""01
reform bill---we owe a great measure of that to wet" bell 4
just adverted, and that to which my name hPdes tkj
kindly associated by your chairman. We owe, besioaor„:',;
the abolition of the East India Company's trading ° duerfe
we owe the municipal reform ; we owe national eloichre,
in Ireland, and we owe many other measures for, ilie,;ot
should be thankful, and which we justly ascribe
constitution of the House of Commons to a cerTho tees
by the first reform bill. But whence has arisen; tille2hat
sity for a new reform bill. Your chairman most rirein "" of
observed that the demand for reform, no matter otioa„,it
quarter, has always embraced' a considerable eitee wino
the sufferage ; it would be no reform nier,liora-ce.o°l ag
that. That was the great. cry and obvious gPe,-be, v,,, be
people of this country, Other evils there raig",,-ieg ".tbat
in themselves, requiring to be rectified, reV'f".,ces"-h-ick
exterminated; but these were the manifest inJusTiea
very few possessed a right to vote under a constita
0014
theoretically gave to other men, that is to every a 51113
every man not living upon alms, every man ',v.:is , tl)e
habitation, every man with a chimney to his u°-,„e
fireplace
chimneyor
vne ops
vote.
eiat.cuet
constitution
under the
smoking,vat
ehbeoa
ucatrhni igdtmhh ntet ehtyleoi,
bpeevearetnardlbyi t
yusbaubcolhfi
ne
mogu.
aburns
ll:1,11'1sta •
c)roilli,10:00090;
p.reseto elect! of
why, many, many generations ago, we can pont, the ale,ileat
of knights of the shire in this country where ah, rep
those
the county came together to say who shout so on
then in the commons of England; and
ibec.an
occasions, in those comparatively dark ual'eirtilacYr:°ello;
occasional confusion, sometimes even violence,
.a elion'irb°
inconvenience, it was decided that the franchise those 'OO
limited at the election of knights of the shire, t 0 dai,s4os.
possessed a bona fide 40s. freehold, which in tu° that tir
a property of some consideration, and, therefore,ristoet;i,
freehold, cheaply as it is regarded by sor°,bais wildicof
of the present day, is a curtailment of the frainvwe eare„s" to,
existed prior to the enactment of that act, an' aereo
only going back again, and onl going back heYos. ten_poee ft!
the institutions of our country,yduring the loie
the prevalence of which the people and the w (Cheije
had a voice in the election of their representatives. the 1 ire
We.have had all kinds of demands made ule(re. yfe,
lature of the country with regard to the stnarsots,
have had the universal suffrage of the Charsoffralibe
h hedbod
ltary.esthuradgetahnedcommrp.lHeteensruyffrvagmeeeannd t. mlay.nellerace
Westminster reform suffrage, that say
is to
&e. to
suffrage, vote by ballot, triennial Parlianient,
one of these schemes emanating from any ninn calling cons
self a Reformer or a Liberal, contemplated a o aeta.,ief
able extension of the suffrage. (Hear, hear.) Idt If° ne.eerball
for the extension of the suffrage which create admit
for reform, if there was any necessity ; but .1 'a
neceV
taking Mr. Disraoli's bill, there never did es ist latfoilii as
for such a bill. I defy any man to ascend this Pet, a 1/";osfi
say that there ever had been a demand for Sliwhich to
this. (Hear, hear.) The one provision in 1_ far e,
just and reasonable was already granted, aiu „ant i"ties
affirmation of the House of Commons ceul" in eoallthet
declaring that the principle of a £lO suffragetion toe of
was a just one. Mr. Locke King's annual Lotion 01
effect had at last received the confirmation of ti,n. oss,ere
Commons. As for the rest of the bill, there
-tr neu the 111?ts.tia;
necessity for any one of the provisions. lv kheen the
tb
n fie'
Moses came forth (cheers and laughter)--'
of
p,rceolit,
captivesgu i s hed o
fE Israeliteg.pt
whoplaced
hadhimself
been a
gtrhi
ne
dhi
ne ag'dvos°ofihno
eentrl
is
house of Pharaoh, they had a right t_t7autingosee
thing, well knowing that he was ne • e el tti
knowledge of the demands of the
(Hear, hear.) The author of the " SYbil"countrl the
well what the working classes of the
d(
eser Hear,t whheitterh. )
had lVhe
entombed mhbee dtheirraised
o
to expect something great, something wort,n_lhert the ,_doe —n o, I do not say they fully expected,ihiigshtsr o'bditiltet.Yhtil_efe;l•olrhfl°Yeatclehelif ciliego7l3:
sion, of the people, and of the man. Inhired noclag,
opened, what came forth ? An enfranc"
doctor, fit the
(laughter), a briefless lawyer, a certificat
rePreseboe'
pensioner. (Cheers and laughter.) Then,
with a pars and
majesty of the British p.eople, came a, mank. (ChefhelP
Batri been °la% ralli
in his hand, with £6O in the Savings
laughter.) Well, the necessity has no emure iv— eve,
(Hear, hear.) The so-called Reform nl.O co the voiv
dieted ; and, notwithstanding that, N" tient. I better
fear, of a bloody struggle on the contL.,_ ouch t
not, after all, whether we could b?uP eu
circumstances than we are, if pexham