The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-08 00:00:00

TIVERTON.

TIVERTON, WEDNESDAY NIGHT.—The election of two
Members to serve in Parliament for this borough took
place to-day. The representatives of the town in the
late Parliament were Mr. Heathcoat and Lord Palmer-
ston. Mr. Heathcoat, who is just recovering from se-
vere indisposition, was unable to canvass the electors
personally, or attend to the nomination, where he was
represented by his grandson, Mr. Heathcoat Amory.
For some days past a contest had been vaguely threatened,
handbills having been issued requesting the electors not
to promise their votes, as a gentleman of " independent
principles would present himself to the constituency at
the hustings. It was rumoured that the gentleman who
was expected to contest the representation was Captain
Stirling, but no " third man" made his appearance to-
day. The Chartists, who at the last general election
brought down their well-known lecturer Mr. Julian
Harney as the opponent of Lord Palmerston, offered no
opposition to the re-election of the late Members,
owing, it is said, to their having at the last election been
forced to a poll, and having consequently been saddled
with a portion of the expenses of the hustings
and polling-booths, which the leading representatives of
the party very reluctantly discharged. The proceedings
commenced at 10 o'clock this morning, when Lord Pal-
merston, accompanied by his own committee and that of
Mr. Heathcoat' proceeded to the Town-hall, where the
reading of the Bribery Act and the other formal pro-
ceedings were gone through. An adjournment then
took place to the hustings, which had been erected, ac-
cording to custom, opposite th,, fine old church.

ThollAroa (Mr. John S. How), es returning officer,
having bespoken a fair hearing for all persons who might
address the meeting,

Mr. W. H. Gone-EN proposed Mr. John Heatheoat as
a fit and proper person to become their representative,
brkfly alluding to the long residence of that gentleman
in the borough, the benefits he had conferred upon its
inhabitants, and the faithful services he had rendered
them for 20 years as their representative in Parliamcnt.
Lie also expressed his regret that Mr. Heathceat's
health was not yet sufficiently restored to enable him to
appear before them.
Mr. PARKELOTISE seconded the nomination.

Mr. W. HonE said, before be nominated a candidate,
he wished to ask them it any of them could tell him what
had become of Captain Stirling?—(Cheers and laughter.)
He had been told the Gallant Captain had been mast-
headed—(A laugh)— but ho did not know whether that
was the case or not. Mr. Hole nominated
Henry Johnat
Temple, Viscount Palmerston, after referring to the dis-
tinguished position held by the Noble Lord in political
life, to his long connexion—now of 15 years' duration—
with the borough, and to his firm adherence to Liberal
principles.
The nomination of Lord Palmerston having been se-
conded by Mr. JERYIs,
The MAYOR inquired whether any other person had
any candidate to propose,
and, as no answer was given,
he at once declared Mr. John Heathcoat and Lord P al -
merston duly elected to represent the borough. The
announcement was received with load
Mr. H. AMORY briefly returned thanks on behalf of
l, cheering.
his grandfather, stating that he bad been most anxious
to present himself before
m
from doing so by the advicetoefis friends. Of Mr.
them, had refrained
Heathcoat's political: principlesh They it was almost un-
necessary for him to speak.
coat, and he had so long been their representative
in Parliament that they must b© thoroughly
acquainted with his political opinions. He was not, as
they well knew, in favour of rash or impracticable re-
forms, but was anxious to promote such moderate re-
forms as the spirit of the times demanded.—(Cheers.)
As their representative in Parliament, Air. Heathcoat
bad given a steady and unflinching support to all mea-
sures which ho thought for the benefit of the country,
and he had always shown his desire to promote the in-
terests and welfare of his fellow-townsmen.—(Cheers.)
It would be Mr. Heathcoat's pride to devote his best
energies to their service, and all he (Mr. Amory) would
add on his grandfather's behalf was that he would at-
tend to his duties in Parliament for the future as he
had done hitherto.—(Loud cheers.)
Lord PALMERsToN then came forward and was
greeted with three hearty cheers. He
'--1-° said,—Gentle-
men, I beg to return to you, from the bottom of my
heart, my most sincere thanks for the honour which you
have now for the fifth time conferred upon me by elect-
ing me as one of your representatives in Parliament.
It must,
be at nnY time, and under any circum-
stances, highly gratifying to any man, who
has that honest ambition which every Englishman
ought to feel, to be chosen as one of the representa-
tives of so honourable and independent a population as
that of this borough—(Cheers)—but still more gratify-
ing must it be when that honour is conferred, not for
the first, nor for the second, nor for the third, nor even
for the fourth time.—(Cheers.) When such an honour
is conferred on so many successive occasions it is a proof
that the public conduct of the man of your choice has
answered the expectations which you formed.—(Cheers.)
I can only assure you that it will be my most anxious
study that my future conduct may correspond with my
past ; and I trust it will equally deserve and obtain the.
approbation of my constituents.—(Hear and cheers.) !
am somewhat sorry that you should be detained under__
a burning sun on this hottest of hot days ;
ever hot the day is, and however aubspiiircbeiuoautssuseuini"t!
fineness for the purpose for which y
bled, I am gratified to think that the
reception
we now
I have met with is as warm as the weather
ive
were told
°ueption which
experience.—(Laughter and
when we came to this
but also a hot con- I
place thaethweeersstioald not only have
hot weather and a warm recedpctihoene%ing
0- We were told
test.—(Renewed laughter
inanhandbills circulated through-
in mysterious language,candidate would appear
unknown
out the town, that an,
Idependent principles." I have
efo'f an independent fortune; I have
—a gentleman
heard, gentlemen,
' heard of independechar nt conduct; I have heard of inde-
but the handbill does not condescend
to explain
pendent
whataeteirsfraeant by " independent principles."
--(cheers.) i presume the allusion is to principles
wholly
(Indent of common sense, of justice, and of
liberality.—
(
independent
and Hear.) I are glad, , gentle-
for the sake of
the constituency of Tiverton, that
such went a ! man has not been found. I will not do the gen-
tlemen who circulated the handbill to which I refer—
the gentlemen who went about canvassing the electors
for a n dark horn," for an unknown man whose name
they had promised not to reveal until votes had been
promised blindtold—l will not do them the injustice to
suppose that :this announced contest, and this myste-
rious candidate were, from beginning to end, nothing
but a hoax.--(Hear, hear, and laughter.) I will not
suppose that those individuals were repeating the mis-
placed, and I may, perhaps, say vulgar joke, which has
sometimes been made, with some malignity and envy,
by the inhabitants of the eastern part of this island,
who have said that the further westward they went the
more convinced they were that the wise men came from
the east.—(Laughter.) I cannot believe that any men
of Tiverton would have offered such an insult to their
fellow-townsmen. I am, therefore, compelled to think
that a small portion of the electors of this borough,
anxious that a contest should take place for the sake of
the fun (for they could not have anticipated success),
1 having beat the land, and having searched the sea—
-1 (Laughter)—having ransacked houses and dived into

the holds of yachts—(A laugh)—having even gone, as
was hinted, to the very masthead—(Renewed laughter)
• —have yet been unable to find any man who would
kindly devote himself to the amusement of a small por-
tion of the inhabitants.—(Cheers.) There ii, gentlemen,
one matter only which mingles feelings of regret with
the satisfaction and enjoyment which I should otherwise
experience on the present occasion. I allude to the ab-
sence of my worthy, most esteemed, and most respected
colleague—(Hear, hear)—but I am sure you, who, as his
fellow-townsmen, know well, by long experience, all the
public and private qualities and virtues which adorn
Ihim, and who would deeply regret to be deprived of his
services in Parliament, must feel glad that under his
temporary indisposition he has not retarded his reco-
ery—which I trust may be early and complete—by ex-
posing himself to the heat and bustle consequent on this
occasion.—(Hear, hear.) It
mostw ou would
distinguished
bec e m e
tmo
we n to
tell you of the merits of
your .
man. What he has done in his private capacity for the
people of this borough you know well, and better than
I can tell you; but this, at least, I may be allowed to
say—that there is no Member of the House of Com-
mons who is more esteemed and respected than your
representative, Mr. fleathcoat.—(Cheers.) And for
!myself I would say, that if I wanted a sound and just
opinion upon any matter whatever, whether of a public
'or a private nature, should it turn upon judg-
ment or upon feeling, there is
no
man whose
opinion would more guide my conduct than the
opinion of Mr. Heathcoat.—(Cheers.) We have been
told that the general election in which this
country is now engaged is to determine finally
and for ever one great question—l mean the
question of protection or no protection.—(Cheers.)
It is my humble opinion that that question has been
long since settled.—(Hear,hear.) I took the liberty of
telling you last autumn, when I had. the pleasure of
being here, that when you saw the river Exe running
up from the sea to Tiverton, instead of running down
:trona Tiverton to the sea, you might then, and not till
then, consider certainly that the revival of protection
was near at hand.—(Laughter and cheers.) I see no
change in the current of the Exe. I don't even see that
in the construction of your bridges you have taken any
precautions to secure them against a turn of the stream.
—(Hear, hear.) What, gentlemen, after all, is this
great question which is called protection? Why, pro-
tection is a single word, which represents a not very
complex idea. Protection is a term something like that
of " independent principles," to which I before referred
—(A laugh)—but protection, stripped of its generality,
means practically taxing the food of the many for the
sake of the interests of the few.—(Loud cheers.) I
have that notion of the judgment, the good sense, and
the good feeling of the people of England—(and I do not
use the expression " the people of England" in the narrow
and restricted sense in which it is sometimes employed,
as denoting only one class of the nation, but as including
the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest)—l have
that notion of the good sense and the good feeling
of the British nation, that I am convinced they never
will consent to revert to a system which is founded
upon injustice and mistake.—(Cheers.) If you wished
to know what has been accomplished by the liberal
commercial measures which have marked for some years
past the course of legislation, I should give you an
answer similar to that inscribed upon the tablet which
records the burialplace of the great architect who built
the magnificent cathedral of St. Paul's. You know very
well that it is usual to adorn the place of sepulture of
eminent persons with marble statues, or groups repre-
senting different ideas connected with them. The burial-
place of the architect of St. Paul's has no such orna-
ments. You find a simple inscription of his name, and
it is added, " If you seek for his monument, look around
you"—look around at that magnificent structure which
bears witness to the skill he had attained in his pro-
fession. Well, gentlemen, if I am asked what is the
bmeeernitfoorfmtehdosientco laommwes:cl answer,measuresal
"Look around whichhoauvnd you."
e of late
Look around you, beginning with the prosperity of the
princely merchant in his counting-house, and descending
to the humble peasant reposing in his cottage. Ask the
mother who carries her babe in; her arms; ask the
father whose children are clinging around him; ask them
what has been the benefit of the commercial relaxations
of late years. They will tell you the benefit is felt both
physically and morally, and they will entreat you not to
revert to a system which would deprive them of the
enjoyments with which they have been blessed._
(Cheers.) We are, nevertheless, told that there is one
class which, amid this general prosperity, has suffered in
some degree—namely, the owners and occupiers of
If I am asked what is the real protection for them, I say
their protection lies mainly in the happiness and con-
tentment of the rest of their fellow-countrymen.—
(Cheers.) Is that a vain assertion?—(Cries of " No!")
Why, look what happened only three or four years ago.
In 1848, when all Europe was convulsed, when thrones
were overturned, when constitutions, ancient and mo-
dern, were alike levelled in the dust, what was the ex-
ample shown by this great country. There were a few
men who, unjustly and unwisely dissatisfied with the
condition of this country, wished for a violent change;
but the moment that change was threatened you saw
every man in the great city of London, from the highest
peer down to the humblest labourer, mingling in honour-
able fellowship, and stepping forward to defend the laws
and institutions of their country, in an array
so formidable that it prevented even the slight-
est manifestation of disorder. Now, I believe
that could not have happened if the people of this country,
had not felt that the course of legislation had been di-
rected towards the general good.—(Hear, hoar.) I say,
then, that Protection is gone, and I trust and hope that
the result of this general election will be to give the final
seal and sanction of the country to the doom of that mis-
taken and bygone principle.—(Cheers.) It is perfectly,
true, es was stated by my proposer, that in the early pe-
riod of the discussion there were many—and I was one of
them—who thought that, in order to make the transition
less rapid and less injurious to men who were not easily
to be convinced, a small fixed duty might be the best
measure to begin with, and that that arrangement might
have lasted for some considerable time. My belief is
that suah a small duty would not have raised in any per-
ceptible degree the price of food, and it might, to a cer-
tain extent, have consulted the feelings of the agricul-
tural class.—(Cheers.) But that suggestion was rejected
by those in whose favour it was proposed, and the boon,
once refused, you may depend upon it will never again
be submitted to their choice.—(Cheers.) Now, gentle-
men, I say that the course of Government has, for a con-
siderable period of time, been directed by the principle
of steady and progressive improvement. Those per-
sons and those parties who wish to improve the institu-
tions of a great country like this are bound to go slowly
and deliberately, and they are sure to meet with great
resistance at every step which they take. I, for one, do
not complain of that resistance. It belongs to the cha-
racter of the country, and it has this advantage, that it
prevents sudden and ill-considered alterations, and that
measures proposed as improvements receive that due
consideration and discussion which renders them ulti-
mately better adapted to the condition of the people to
whom they apply.—(Hear, hear.) A love and affection
for ancient practices and institutions is an honourable
and peculiar characteriltic of the people of this country
—(Cheers)—and I am the last to wish that that ho-
nourable and useful sentiment should ever be discarded
from their minds. There are some of the nations of
the continent who are more volatile and more apt to
change—and national character is often evinced by
circumstances apparently trifling in themselves. Now,
in many parts of the continent if an innkeeper wishes,ne
to recommend his inn, he hangs up a sign of
New White Horse," or " Tho New Golden cress. The
t
last novelty is that which is considered the most a -
dt
tive. Here, gentlemen, a contrary course is pursue, r,
andac
:,
if the owner of a country alehouse, "i O
wishes to draw cus-
tom he hangs up the sign of The Old
he'ld Plough New
Revived."—(Laughter.) There is,. at a place called
Hanwell, not far from London, an
inn to which gentle-
men who were fond of pigeon-shootingused to resort to
anybody
Itis practise,,T htheeoirlsdkiii llWelt, what is the sign of that inn?
r an old hat to a new one, but it
was expected that gentlemen would come to " The Old
to " The New Hats."—(Renewed
laughter.) Now a ,
Hats" in preference to
, n was set up, and what was
its sign? Why,
The Old Old Hats"—(Laughter)—
profited by that superlative designation.
skill.
e_ (Laughter.) Not that
was thought to prefer
and much it pro
r," and a laugh.) I was looking, as
—(" Hear,
the advertisements that a firm in the Poultry
saw among .
nn as the `the! King's Head," and in order
wish aug
to t e
expressr .) The
I came down here, at the railway time table book, and I
combine attractions of national feel-
taTineaylattractions of good living, they add that it
turtle house in London.—(L h
country, too, when they
te endearment, "Old England" (L
people of this
oudiclheersd)
their attachment to the land they live in call it,
or embellishing that which with
decay, or from improving, or
affections
may have have got into
_Li_hgabtatt.
withh they
that does not prevent them from repairing what
made better.—(Cheers.) There are, gene
,mianodaleof late, and which,doubt, gooh
topics which have much agitated the
discussion the
psptboisul
etsuelnob:mtnjpt
al
ehoiemlu
ncceoun
taenooyncofl dtefti ebnhs
egtis
wtahitowsfehoirtcmohpittchse:
amnot an
ft
raa
o f variousno hustingsou btencountering,
country are nowassembling,
assemble. I or are about to
although upon two of them especially I may find that
my opinions do not coincide with those of others whom
I highly respect. The first topic is the Militia Bill.
(Some hisses, met by cheers.) You see I take the bull
by the horns.—(Laughter and cheers.) I suppose that
no man in this country, except the few who think in
agreement with the author of a pamphlet which I felt it
my duty to mention in the House of Commons, and who,
good man, recommended that we should quietly submit
to be invaded and conquered, in the hope that the con-
queror would be so astonished at our submission that ho
would grow ashamed of himself, and would go avail
after having taken some 50,000,0004 of our mono's—
(Laughter and cheers.) I presume, with this excel:poi?,
that there is no man who has an English heart in his
bosom who does not feel that England is worth defend-
ing, and that he ought to make any sacrifice rather than
allow his country to be conquered.—(Cheers.) Why, I
may say, gentlemen, that this country is the heart of
civil and political liberty, and that the conquest of this
country would not only be one of the greatest calamities
to the country itself, but would eh e a misfcrtune to the
whole of the civilized world.—(Hear, hear.) A poet,
Campbell, who died not long ego, says—in lines de-
scribing the fate of Poland—that
" Hope fora season bade the world farewell,
" And freedom shrieked when Kosciwko fell:"

But hcpe would indeed for ever bid adieu to the world,
and freedom would die and not shriek, if England were
to be conquered.—(Cheers.) You have for tho last two
da%shad baud
bands of parading your streets, followed
by'all the healthy-looking children of the place, some
toddling
along in the ranks who were scarcely able to
k
feet—(A laugh)—but that peaceful display
has eotnhlymanifested the joy and contentment of all the
people of the town. What would: you have said, how-
ever, if these bands had preceded a hostile force,—if the
armed hosts following the musicians had come to occupy
at free quarters every house of your town, and, haying

cocupied every house, to make themselves perfectly free
with everything and everybody therein contained?—
(Hear.) I may be told tbes,e are vain apprehensions—
appeals made to the fanciful fears of the country simply
for the public expenditure. That reminds me of a story
which I remember having heard of an elderly lady who
lived near Henley-on-Thames, and who, when an in-
vasion was expected by Napoleon Bonaparte said she
did not believe it would ever come, because she had
been told in her youth the Pretender was coming, and,
se he never came to Henley, she believed Napoleon Bo-
naparte never would come there either.—(Laughter.)
Now I don't glee,: this story, gentlemen, to throw any
reflexion upon the intelligence of the elder portion of the
fairer sex—(A laugh)—because I remember to have
heard that the Duchess of Gordon, in the time of Mr.
Pitt, reeking to an elderly statesman, was told by him,
with regard to something in which he thought he had
acted unwisely, " Really, Madam, I feel that I am grow-
ing an old woman;" upon which the Duchess replied,
"I am glad to hear that that's all, for I really thought
your Grace was growing an old man, and that's a much
worse thing."—(Great laughter.) Now I say that those
men who tell you that because you have had no invasion
since the Norman Conquest you never will have one,
arid that you need not guard against it, are old men.
—(A laugh.) Though they may not be old in years,
they are old in imbecility of intellect. All those
who are most able to judge of military and
naval
operations tell you that an invasion is perfectly
possible; that it is more possible now than it ever
was before, mainly on account of the great change
which has been made by the application of steam in
naval and military operations; and to tell you that you are
safe from invasion now because you were able to prevent
it before, to tell you that you are safe from invasions
now without precautions, because hitherto you have
prevented it by precautions, is the greatest of all pos-
sible absurdities. Why, how happened it that you had
no invasion at the time of which the good old lady at
Henley spoke? Because you had then a large standing
army within the kingdom; you had your whole militia
organised, enrolled, and on permanent pay; you had,
besides, 400,000 volunteers, the whole country was in
arms, and the enemy could not have made an effectual
attempt; but even then, I believe, and I have been told
on good authority, only in consequence of
it was
which
operation, by the French
the _allure of a naval
fleets were to have formed a junction, that an at-
tempt to invade you was nut made. The result
would have been such as it always will be when
Englishmen are armed and prepared; bat I say
that, if
Beglisem, n ore not armed, and are
not prepare& they are
.doing injustice to themselves,
are not showing themselves worthy of those great
andan
and inestimable blessings which it has been the will of
Provideece to bestow upon them. Some of you may
say, la 0 Xt:Ver, " oh, but we may possibly be taken for
the militia." Now, the Bill which was first brought in
by the late Government, and which theysaid was thrown
out by a vote to which the House of Commons came at
my suggestioe. was founded on the Local Militia Acts,
and that Bill had for its basis compulsory service by
ballot. The exceptions were to be small; the general
scope of the Bill was service by ballot, and no power to
serve by substitute. Now, the present Act, to which I
gave my humble support in Parliament, and which some
of those who object to me cast in my teeth as a reproach,
is founded, on the contrary, upon voluntary service, and
unless the number of men is not raised by bounty—as I
am confident it will be—no recourse is to be had to the
ballot, or to compulsory service. I feel, gentlemen, that
in the part which it was my lot to take in furtherance
of that measure I acted upon a sense of duty to my
country, and that I rendered a humble service to the
whole of the united kingdom.—(Cheers.) There is one
other question which has been the subject of much pub-
lic discussion—l mean the grant which was placed on
the consolidated fund for the College of Maynootb, by
an Act of Parliament passed in the time of the late Sir
Robert Peel. I know that many persons in England and
Scotland anxiously desire that the grunt should be re-
voked. I confess lam not one of those who arepre=
pared to join in that revocation. I look upon that
grant
as a part of a general system, and I look upon it 41.31 as
a peculiar aerate2ement arising out of the condition of t-
sister cetin... If a man tells me that he objects
to thee,
grant to Meynnoth btc !lite he objects to any grant or
puel?c mon,. s- to the ministers of say religion or to any
eeclesitaticai establishment, I understand-hi: argument;
I respect he ()plaice; I differ from it, 'but at the
same time I acknowledge, that his eetection ie founded
upon intelligible principles of action.—(Hear, hear.)
I have been born and bred in a country where
there is an established church; my opinion is
that it is for the advantage of every country to have
an established church and that that church ought to
be the church of the majority. There are those who
differ from me. I respect their difference, but I main-
tain my own opinion. This College of Maynooth, how-
ever, rests upon particular considerations, It was granted
to the Irish in order that their priesthood might be edu-
cated at home, instead of going to Spain, to France, or
to Rome to obtain an education. It was granted before
the -Ction; and, though its maintenance was not a
special stipulation of the Union, yet still I hold that the
good faith of England was engaged, not without good
reason, to deprive the Irish of the grant.—(Cheers.)
Now, I can quite understand that those who wish the
Irish to be Protestants would propose to take away this
grant, if, by withdrawing it, they could turn the Irish
from being Catholics to become Protestants. But you
would do no such thing if you took away the grant.
Yoa would, indeed, deprive the poor Irish scholar who
is destined for the priesthood of a national education.
You would send him to Spain, or to Italy, or else-
where, to learn there the most objectionable doctrines
of the church to which he belongs. He would come
back as complete a Catholic as if he had been eda-
' cited at Maynooth; but he would also come back
a Spaniard, or an Italian, or a Frenchman, instead
of being, as he now is, an Irishman to the very
heart's core.—(Hear, hear.) I say, then, it would be an
act of great hardship and injustice towards the humble
Irish scholar if you were to deprive him of those means
of instruction; and it would also be an injury to the
country to fill the Irish parishes with priests, who, in-
stead of having been educated as Irishmen, would bring
with them political and foreign doctrines to contaminate
the parity of their national frith.—(Hear, hear.) I say
then, gentlemen, that I for one am not prepared to vote
for taking away that grant, It is a part of a general
question on which I differ in opinion from many whose
judgment I respect. It is a peculiar question between
England and Ireland ; and both as an Englishman,
and as being interested in Ireland, I feel it would be
an injustice and an injury to the country to with-
draw the grant.—(Elear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, I
am not aware that there is any other topic of material
importance upon which it can be my duty to address
you, and to detain you longer under this burning
sun.
I ceu only say that I hold it to be the duty oet hos
who govern tee country, and of those who are sent into
e
Parliament to deliberate upon the interests of the
n
try, to consider that they ere governing and deliberat-
ingeeiu for the interests of the whole nation—not to
tallow
themselves to be biassed by the interests or tho
wishesw
of any one particuler class, but to feel and to remember
that every class must benefit sooner or later by the
prosperity or the whole, and that it is a narrow and a
short-sighted policy which endeavours to rear the inte-
rests of the few upon the injury of the many.—(Cheers.)
I appeal. gentlemen, to the general prosperity of the
country; I appeal to the progressive increase of the re-
venue, and more especially of the revenue drawn from
an increased consumption by the poorer classes of all
thoe, articles in which their limited enjoyment consists;
I appeal to that universal prosperity which nu man can
now deny as proofs that the successive Admiaistrations
which of late years have been charged with the interests
of the country, and that the Parliaments which have had
to deliberate upon the measures proposed, have steered
a wise and et udent course, and that that course has been
rewarded by those results—the benefit of all—which
were predicted by the men who proposed and who sane-
tiened the measures to which I advert.—(Cheers.) Gen-
tlemen, I stain thank you for the distinguished honour
you have this day conferred upon me. I trust that my
future conduct will equally with my past merit the con-
tinuance of your favours, and 23 long as I Ciij iy the
honour of representing you, I can assure you that there
is no other distinction of that kiind which any circurn•
stances would induce me to prefer.—(Che'r3') Gentle.
teen, I beg to return you my most singer° sad cordial
thanks.—(Load cheering.)
Mr. ROWCLIFF men cause forward and put several
questions to Lord Palmer: ,n, the nature of which will
be fully appereet face the Noble Lord's reply.
Lord PeeeteatTost said,—My good friend, Mr. Row-
has repro me fir not coming often enough
am yon. Insse say rest he does not appear disposed
4 A my viwt here particularly agreeable to me.—
(Laughter and sneer s.) I
whieh'he """"t "Y teat the manner
celtivate the society ore cifirds much ericouraeement so
(Itenecvt.cl leughter.) Preens of his Ray of thinking.--
cal, a Chartist, or a Toryietheiri Mr. R eeecliff is a Rath-
that all -sales may haw; sormeel-y cannot "Y.I believe
ing logs—(?I Lstrgh.) m,.. Rlr:ealn or eeher for claim--
you of the goodeh Government '""Yi that I only told
done, and that, I have myself dons ant Parliaments Mete
told yea eir the bed. Why, God biasaandmthattl„„h,,a:nenir,,,r.
unnecessary for me to do that wheel he, i-
gen e n
(L :ad laughter.) If there was a had thine vests eietres.--ro
carded, to he invented, or to ba imagined, 1
Mr. would be the first man to tell you
(Laughter; increased when Nlr.ltoYeeu
alled
out a‘9;ileitiblin Well, Mr. Roweliii is an :ti laniffstteuaYe;
,this casjegestien. I will hit lower or hiehrPr,
pleases:--f.rainghter)—bnt ere must allow me ZOjhit 87)3 he
wheretle Reaecliff ha.i nailed me what Government
I mean to j )in. Now, th It is a question that must depend
Upon the' fiance—(A laugh)—out I will tell him what
Goverinneent Ido not mean to join him. I caa assure
you erd aim that I never will join a ttiovernuient called
a lower,f Ainainistraion.—(Great laughter and cheer-
ing,) Now, gentlemen, don't you imagine, because you
der .o it very absurd that there should he such un Ad-
micettratioe, that my friend Mr. Rowcliff is at all of
that 'way of thinking; for I believe I um not far mistaken
in the opinion that ho will consider everything going
wrong, in this world, and in this country, until the Re 7 -
cliff Adratei :ration shall govern the land —(Loud
laughter.) fir. 1-towcliff has raked up old and bygone
commonplaces about pensions. He ought to know_
because he 'nes no right to talk upon the subject with-
out informing himself about it—that pensions are ex-
tremely limited in sm,tmt, and that they are only
given for acknowlsdged public services. All those
abu
4"
of
'liar' Car". of inordinate pension:; and of
misbeetowed peesiens, which existed in former times,
have been copra clad, and the pension list has been
enormously reduced. It is true that pensions have not
been taken away from those to whom they were granted
for life, b,enuse that would have been A branch of fai:h,
but fetare pensions are not granted except upon
grounds whir t Parliament itself acknowledges to be
just.---(fTear, bear.) Mr. n'lweliff Bays I voted for the
meat , 3,11, As I have already explained to
you. the
material difference between the Militia Bill
which I Op.
k rth
which I supported was that
etr-1-7-1-777,C7'N

001144

,G\

'

34

the former was founded upon compulsory service as the
rule, admitting voluntary service as the exception, while
the Bill of the present Government, which I supported
was founded upon voluntary service as the rule, and
admits of compulsory service as only the remote and
contingent exception.—(Cheers.) The militia now to
be raised will be raised by bounty. and, if I have any
fault to find with the act, it is that I think the bounty is
rather too high. That, ho mover, I presume, can be no
ground of objection to young men who may be disposed
to enlist.—(A. laugh.) My belief is that you will have
no ballot, but that you will gain all your men from the
spontaneous patriotism of the people, aided by the in-
ducement of the bounty. I do not think so ill of the
young men of England as to believe that they will be
afraid of 21 days' service during the year in the militia.
I commanded a regiment of local militia, which used
to assemble for 28 days' training, and I knew only ono
instance of a man who wished to go home before the
28 days were over. He was one of the privates who
came to mo and said, " My Lord, I wish you would let
me go home." I replied, " Why? you have only a week
to servo now?" Well," said he, " the fact is that before
I corned here I promised a young woman in my parish
that I'd marry her, if so be as I stir wived the campaign."
—(Laughter.) I replied, " Heaven forbid that the
young woman should be disappointed. Go home and
marry her, and tell her the campaign has not been so
dangerous as she may have thought it."—(Laughter.) I
am convinced that the young men of England won't be
afraid of three weeks' campaign in a militia regiment.—
(Cheers.) Mr. Rowcliff has asked me my notions of
Parliamentary reform—whether I did not vote against
Mr. Locke King's motion? whether I should be prepared
to vote for the ballot, for the repeal of the Septennial
Act, and for the substitution of triennial, or, as they aro
sometimes called, triangular Parliaments ?—(Laughter.)
Now, Mr. Rowcliff is a Chartist, and is for the five or
six or any other number of points of the Charter. lam
not a Chartist, and I am too old to become a Chartist.
I am quite satisfied with the constitution of the coun-
try under which I have been born, under which I have
lived, and under which I hope to die.—(Loud cheers.) I
am for a limited and constitutional monarchy; I am not
for a republic. I have seen what republics are in other
countries. I have seen that they cannot maintain their
ground, and that when you try to establish them you in-
variably lead the way to a military despotism.—(Hear.)
lam for septennial Parliaments. A septennial Parlia-
ment, practically, is not a Parliament that lasts for
seven years, for we all know that the average duration
of the Parliaments during the last 30 or 40 year has not
been more than three or four years. If you establish
annual Parliaments you will have the country in a per-
petual commotion. Your Members of Parliament will
not have time to learn their duties, and your business
will be ill done. In the same way, if you have trien-
nial Parliaments, during the firstyear the Members will be
learning their business, in the second year they will
just be beginning useful measures, and in the third year
they will be thinking of the Rowcliffs of their respective
btct
itunhyoeennibsortatrsildctruoeperta—n(rcestsioehee,
n s—(Laughter)—and endeavouting to shape
ecerreost t
v conciliateaofntoicirn gl—at thehu glge
ho
mosttoejore o
noisyto.)
o itheir
because
regard country,atheir
It consti-
tuents.—(Cheers
hay
isbont
tuike.
ct
it at variance with the national character and with the
principle of our Constitution. I think a true English.
man hates doing a thing in secret or in the dark
of Englishmen wo.uldl
do not believe that a majority
consent to give their votes in secret, even if the law per-
mitted them to do so; and I think if the law compelled
them to do so it would be a debasement of the national
tailioanr.actlerh.o—ld(
Ertheaatrthhe right) of
But I have a higher objec-
I ear.
in the elector for the public good. I don't thinkre
voting is a trust
tphoaste reposed
vote is given for the benefit of the man who possesses it,
and that he can take it to the best bidder and get 51.,
10/., or 201., as the case may be. The vote is given as a
trust for the public and for the nation; and I say that
any trust reposed in a man for the public good he ought
to perform in public._(Hear, hear.) I say, that for
men who are charged with the high and important duty
of choosing the best men to represent the country in
Parliament to go sneaking to the ballot-box, and,
poking in a piece of paper, looking round to see that no
one could read it, is a course which is unconstitutional
and unworthy the character of straightforward and
rionest Englishmen. lam for improvement. lam fur a
gradual and steady improvement, where improvement can
properly be made; but I am not for rashly and hastily
overturning those ancient institutions under which this
country has long flourished and prospered, which have
contributed to the contentment of the nation, and which
have rendered our country stable amid convulsions
which have shaken to their centre many other States of
Europe.—(Cheers.)
Three cheers were then given for Lord Palmerston;
and

Mr. F. HOLE moved a vote of thanks to the Mayor,
which was carried by acclamation.
The MAYOR, in acknowledging the compliment, ex-
pressed his pride at holding for the third time the office
of chief magistrate of the borough, and his satisfaction
at the order and decorum with which the proceedings
had been conducted.

At the last general election for the borough the pro-
ceedings lasted for nearly eight hours, and during the
whole of that time, in consequence of the scanty cover-
ing provided for the hustings, the candidates and the
greater proportion of their friends were exposed to the
scorching rays of the sun. On this occasion, however,
thanks to the forethought of the Mayor, the arrange-
ments were materially changed, and ample protection
was afforded by a projecting roof to the occupants of the
hustings, on what Lord Palmerston justly described as
ono of " the hottest of hot days."